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31
JAN
2006Iterators (Chapters 4 and 5)
Due to a printing error, these two chapters actually came out longer than intended. Originally their contents were: "Use Ruby."
All jokes aside, there's really not a whole lot for me to talk about from these chapters, since iterators are so internal to Ruby. Readers from our camp should run into a lot less surprises here that the intended audience. Just translate MDJ's anonymous subroutines to blocks, replace his returns with yields, and you are 90% of the way there.
Here are translations for some of the examples in these chapters. I think these all come out cleaner and more natural in Ruby, but you be the judge:
Permutations
#!/usr/local/bin/ruby -w def permute(items) 0.upto(1.0/0.0) do |count| pattern = count_to_pattern(count, items.size) or break puts "Pattern #{pattern.join(' ')}:" if $DEBUG yield(pattern_to_permutation(pattern, items.dup)) end end def pattern_to_permutation(pattern, items) pattern.inject(Array.new) { |results, i| results + items.slice!(i, 1) } end def count_to_pattern(count, item_count) pattern = (1..item_count).inject(Array.new) do |pat, i| pat.unshift(count % i) count /= i pat end count.zero? ? pattern : nil end if ARGV.empty? abort "Usage: #{File.basename($PROGRAM_NAME)} LIST_OF_ITEMS" end permute(ARGV) { |perm| puts(($DEBUG ? " " : "") + perm.join(" ")) }
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5
JAN
2006Code as a Data Type
Introduction
This is the first of a series of articles where I will try to demystify some Ruby idioms for the people who come to Ruby through Rails and find themselves wanting to learn a little more about the language under the hood.
Strings, Arrays, ... and Code?
You don't have to code for long in any language before you get intimately familiar with some standard data types. We all have a fair grasp of Ruby's
String
andArray
, because every language has something similar. Ruby has an unusual data type though, which can trip up newcomers. That type is Ruby code itself.Allow me to explain what I mean, through an example. First, let's create a little in-memory database to work with:
class ClientDB Record = Struct.new(:client_name, :location, :projects) def initialize @records = [ Record.new( "Gray Soft", "Oklahoma", ["Ruby Quiz", "Rails Extensions"] ), Record.new( "Serenity Crew", "Deep Space", ["Ship Enhancements"] ), Record.new( "Neo", "Hollywood", ["Rails interface for the Matrix"] ) ] end end
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4
JAN
2006Pathname and Enumerator
I'm always digging around in Ruby's standard library looking for new toys. It's one-stop-shopping for geeks. I love it.
There really are some great tools in there that can help you do your work easier. Let me tell you a little about two I am using on a current application.
Pathname
Pop Quiz: Which would you rather work with?
if File.exist? some_dir data = File.read( File.join( File.dirname(some_dir), "another_dir", File.basename(some_file) ) ) # ... end
Or:
if some_dir.exist? data = (some_dir.dirname + "another_dir" + some_file.basename).read # ... end
If you prefer the second version, the
Pathname
library is for you.Ruby's file manipulations are usually fine for normal work, but anytime I start messing with directories I really start feeling the pain. For that kind of work, I find
Pathname
to be a superior interface. My current project makes great use of the methods in the above example as well asPathname#entries
,Pathname#relative_path_from
, and more.