whats the big deal missing a slash?

In the following code,

Code:

---

require 'net/http'
url = URI.parse('http:...ww.google.com/')
response = Net::HTTP.start(url.host, url.port) do |http|
http.get(url.path)
end
content = response.body     
puts content

---

if I miss the / it gives an error.
Could someone explain why?

Any advantage of using the above code than the following shell command

Code:

---

content=$(curl http:...w.google.com)

---

and curl does not complain about the missing /

Neither url is valid, so at this point the trailing slash is irrelevant. If instead you specify a url like this:

Code:

---

require 'net/http'

url = URI.parse('http://www.google.com')
puts url.host
puts "-->#{url.path}<--"

response = Net::HTTP.start(url.host, url.port) do |http|
  http.get(url.path)
end

content = response.body     
puts content[0..100]

--output:--
www.google.com
--><--
`initialize': HTTP request path is empty (ArgumentError)

---

the error message explains that url.path is a blank string, and get() requires something other than a blank string for the path.

A url like:

Quote:

---

http://www.google.com/

---

specifies the host as

Quote:

---

www.google.com

---

and the path as:

Quote:

---

/

---

If a url like "http://www.google.com" works with curl, then that means curl uses '/' as the default path when no path is provided.

Quote:

---

any advantage of using the above code than the following shell command
[code]content=$(curl http:...w.google.com)[/code

---

That line isn't valid ruby, so it couldn't be used in a ruby program?