Note: Must be required explicitely! This is a best attempt to fake BasicObject in Ruby 1.8.x What you do get:
* as few methods as the real BasicObject (at the moment the library is required...) * BasicObject === <anything> # ==> returns true
What you don't get:
* BasicObject is not in the ancestor list of all classes and thus
* Comparisons between classes won't work, e.g.
Object < BasicObject # ==> returns true instead of false
* Instance methods added to Object or Kernel after you require 'backports/basic_object'
might also be available in instances of BasicObject and subclasses
(they will only be undefined whenever a subclass of BasicObject is created)
Because of all the fineprint, BasicObject must be required explicitely