Use of Variables in Block Method of Ruby [duplicate] - ruby

This question already has answers here:
What does the |variable| syntax mean? [duplicate]
(4 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I am learning Ruby program and I found the following while working on Arrays and Files
nums = Array.new(10) { |e| e = e * 2; }
puts nums
File.foreach("users.txt") { |line| puts line }
The program works well. However, I didn't know what is meant by |e| or |line| in the blocks
Kindly explain me the use of the variables in blocks

As Viktor mentioned they are block arguments. e represents an index of an item of an array in each iteration, line each line when you are iterating through the lines of a file.
Here is the pseudocode:
nums = Array.new(10) # Returns an array of size 10 filled up with nil values
for(i = 0; i < nums.length(); i++) {
e = i * 2 # This is `e` variable in the block
nums[i] = e
}
file_lines = File.readlines("users.txt")
for(i = 0; i < file_lines.length(); i++) {
line = file_lines[i] # This is `line` variable in the block
print(line)
}
By the way, in the first example, the assignment is unnecessary because after each iteration a block returns the last evaluated value, so you can rewrite it like this nums = Array.new(10) { |e| e * 2 }

However, I didn't know what is meant by |e| or |line| in the blocks
This is called a parameter list. A parameter is like a "hole" in a subroutine (in this case a block, but methods can also have parameters and thus a parameter list) that can be filled in later. The thing that is being used to fill in the hole is called an argument. Arguments are being passed in an argument list.
So, in this case you have a parameter list with one parameter called e, or line, respectively.
Note that the assignment in the first snippet is useless. There is no code after the assignment which uses the parameter again, so it doesn't do anything.

{ ... } defines a block and |...| holds the block's argument(s). Block arguments are similar to method arguments.
You can use do ... end instead of { ... } and split the code to multiple lines:
File.foreach("users.txt") do |line|
puts line
end
Array.new(10) { ... } creates a 10-element array. For each element, the block is called and the element's (zero-based) index is passed to the block. This is what e is in your example. You can choose the variable name yourself. (e for element, i for index, or n for number are typical variable names)
The block's return value then defines the element's value. Some examples:
Array.new(10) { |i| 5 } # not using the index at all
#=> [5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5]
Array.new(10) { |i| i } # returning the unchanged index
#=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Array.new(10) { |i| 10 - i } # subtracting the index from 10
#=> [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
Array.new(10) { |i| i * i } # multiplying the index by itself
#=> [0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]
As you can see, the index can be used to create a variety of sequences.
Also note that the assignment (e =) in your example is superfluous. Only the block's return value matters.
File.foreach passes the lines of a file to the given block while reading the file, one after another. Within the block, you can decide what to do with that line. In your example, you puts it. Unlike Array.new above, File.foreach doesn't use the block's return value afterwards.
In general, many Ruby methods accept blocks. It allows the method to pass values to the block for further processing. Some methods use the blocks return value, others don't.

Related

Ruby code to iterate over every n-th element of an array and print it until all elements are printed?

I am asked to write some code in Ruby that iterates over every n-th element of an array and prints it until all elements of the array are printed.
The question reads:
Imagine an iterator that accesses an array in strides and runs some code at each stride. If the strides reach the end of the array then they simply begin anew from the array's beginning.
For example:
x = [0,1,2,3,4]
x.stride(1) do |elem|; puts elem; end # prints 0,1,2,3,4
x.stride(2) do |elem|; puts elem; end # prints 0,2,4,1,3
x.stride(8) do |elem|; puts elem; end # prints 0,3,1,4,2
[].stride(2) do |elem|; puts elem; end # does not print anything, but the code is correct
Assume that the stride is equal or greater than 1, and that both the stride and the array's size are not a integral/whole multiple of each other, meaning that the whole array can be printed using a given stride. Fill in the code that's missing:
class Array
def stride(step)
numelems = ... # size of the array
...
end
end
It is obvious that numelemns = self.length(). However am having trouble with the rest.
I am going to try writing some code in Python that accomplishes this task, but I am afraid that I will not be able to translate it to Ruby.
Any ideas? The answer should not be more than 4-5 lines long as the question is one that our proffessor gave us to solve in a couple of minutes.
A solution to this is provided below (thanks #user3574603):
class Array
def stride(step)
yield self[0]
(self * step).map.with_index do |element, index|
next element if index == 0
yield element if index % step == 0
end
end
end
The following assumes that arr.size and n are not both even numbers and arr.size is not a multiple of n.
def striding(arr, n)
sz = arr.size
result = '_' * sz
idx = 0
sz.times do
result[idx] = arr[idx].to_s
puts "S".rjust(idx+1)
puts result
idx = (idx + n) % sz
end
end
striding [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,2,3,4,5,6], 7
S
1______________
S
1______8_______
S
1______8______6
S
1_____78______6
S
1_____78_____56
S
1____678_____56
S
1____678____456
S
1___5678____456
S
1___5678___3456
S
1__45678___3456
S
1__45678__23456
S
1_345678__23456
S
1_345678_123456
S
12345678_123456
S
123456789123456
Here is an example where arr.size is a multiple of n.
striding [1,2,3,4,5,6], 3
S
1_____
S
1__4__
S
1__4__
S
1__4__
S
1__4__
S
1__4__
Here is an example where arr.size and n are both even numbers.
striding [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], 6
S
1_______
S
1_____7_
S
1___5_7_
S
1_3_5_7_
S
1_3_5_7_
S
1_3_5_7_
S
1_3_5_7_
S
1_3_5_7_
Imagine an iterator that accesses an array in strides and runs some code at each stride. If the strides reach the end of the array then they simply begin anew from the array's beginning.
Based on this specification, stride will always iterate forever, unless the array is empty. But that is not a problem, since we can easily take only the amount of elements we need.
In fact, that is a good design: producing an infinite stream of values lets the consumer decide how many they need.
A simple solution could look like this:
module CoreExtensions
module EnumerableExtensions
module EnumerableWithStride
def stride(step = 1)
return enum_for(__callee__, step) unless block_given?
enum = cycle
loop do
yield(enum.next)
(step - 1).times { enum.next }
end
self
end
end
end
end
Enumerable.include(CoreExtensions::EnumerableExtensions::EnumerableWithStride)
A couple of things to note here:
I chose to add the stride method to Enumerable instead of Array. Enumerable is Ruby's work horse for iteration and there is nothing in the stride method that requires self to be an Array. Enumerable is simply the better place for it.
Instead of directly monkey-patching Enumerable, I put the method in a separate module. That makes it easier to debug code for others. If they see a stride method they don't recognize, and inspect the inheritance chain of the object, they will immediately see a module named EnumerableWithStride in the inheritance chain and can make the reasonable assumption that the method is probably coming from here:
[].stride
# Huh, what is this `stride` method? I have never seen it before.
# And it is not documented on https://ruby-doc.org/
# Let's investigate:
[].class.ancestors
#=> [
# Array,
# Enumerable,
# CoreExtensions::EnumerableExtensions::EnumerableWithStride,
# Object,
# Kernel,
# BasicObject
# ]
# So, we're confused about a method named `stride` and we
# found a module whose name includes `Stride`.
# We can reasonably guess that somewhere in the system,
# there must be a file named
# `core_extensions/enumerable_extensions/enumerable_with_stride.rb`.
# Or, we could ask the method directly:
meth = [].method(:stride)
meth.owner
#=> CoreExtensions::EnumerableExtensions::EnumerableWithStride
meth.source_location
#=> [
# 'core_extensions/enumerable_extensions/enumerable_with_stride.rb',
# 6
# ]
For an empty array, nothing happens:
[].stride(2, &method(:p))
#=> []
stride just returns self (just like each does) and the block is never executed.
For a non-empty array, we get an infinite stream of values:
x.stride(&method(:p))
# 0
# 1
# 2
# 3
# 4
# 0
# 1
# …
x.stride(2, &method(:p))
# 0
# 2
# 4
# 1
# 3
# 0
# 2
# …
x.stride(8, &method(:p))
# 0
# 3
# 1
# 4
# 2
# 0
# 3
# …
The nice thing about this infinite stream of values is that we, as the consumer can freely choose how many elements we want. For example, if I want 10 elements, I simply take 10 elements:
x.stride(3).take(10)
#=> [0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2]
This works because, like all well-behaved iterators, our stride method returns an Enumerator in case no block is supplied:
enum = x.stride(2)
#=> #<Enumerator: ...>
enum.next
#=> 0
enum.next
#=> 2
enum.next
#=> 4
enum.next
#=> 1
enum.next
#=> 3
enum.next
#=> 0
enum.next
#=> 2
So, if we want to implement the requirement "until all the elements of the array are printed":
I am asked to write some code in Ruby that iterates over every n-th element of an array and prints it until all elements of the array are printed.
We could implement that something like this:
x.stride.take(x.length).each(&method(:p))
x.stride(2).take(x.length).each(&method(:p))
x.stride(8).take(x.length).each(&method(:p))
This is a pretty simplistic implementation, though. Here, we simply print as many elements as there are elements in the original array.
We could implement a more sophisticated logic using Enumerable#take_while that keeps track of which elements have been printed and which haven't, and only stops if all elements are printed. But we can easily prove that after x.length iterations either all elements have been printed or there will never be all elements printed (if the stride size is an integral multiple of the array length or vice versa). So, this should be fine.
This almost does what I think you want but breaks if the step is array.length + 1 array.length (but you mention that we should assume the stride is not a multiply of the array length).
class Array
def exhaustive_stride(step)
(self * step).map.with_index do |element, index|
next element if index == 0
element if index % step == 0
end.compact
end
end
x.exhaustive_stride 1
#=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
x.exhaustive_stride 2
#=> [0, 2, 4, 1, 3]
x.exhaustive_stride 8
#=> [0, 3, 1, 4, 2]
[].exhaustive_stride 2
#=> []
Using the example array, it breaks when the stride is 5.
[0,1,2,3,4].exhaustive_stride 5
#=> [0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
Note
This works but the intermediate array makes it highly inefficient. Consider other answers.
Here's another solution that uses recursion. Not the most efficient but one way of doing it.
class Array
def exhaustive_stride(x, r = [])
return [] if self.empty?
r << self[0] if r.empty?
while x > self.length
x -= self.length
end
r << self[x]
x += x
return r if r.count == self.count
stride(x, r)
end
end
[0,1,2,3,4].exhaustive_stride 1
#=> [0, 1, 2, 4, 3]
[0,1,2,3,4].exhaustive_stride 2
#=> [0, 2, 4, 3, 1]
[0,1,2,3,4].exhaustive_stride 8
#=> [0, 3, 1, 2, 4]
[].exhaustive_stride 2
#=> []
[0,1,2,3,4].exhaustive_stride 100_000_001
#=> [0, 1, 2, 4, 3]
This would work:
def stride(ary, step)
raise ArgumentError unless step.gcd(ary.size) == 1
Array.new(ary.size) { |i| ary[(i * step) % ary.size] }
end
Example:
x = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
stride(x, 1) #=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
stride(x, 2) #=> [0, 2, 4, 1, 3]
stride(x, 8) #=> [0, 3, 1, 4, 2]
stride(x, -1) #=> [0, 4, 3, 2, 1]
First of all, the guard clause checks whether step and ary.size are coprime to ensure that all elements can be visited via step.
Array.new(ary.size) creates a new array of the same size as the original array. The elements are then retrieved from the original array by multiplying the element's index by step and then performing a modulo operation using the array's size.
Having % arr.size is equivalent to fetching the elements from a cyclic array, e.g. for a step value of 2:
0 1 2 3 4
| | | | |
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
To turn this into an instance method for Array you merely replace ary with self (which can be omitted most of the time):
class Array
def stride(step)
raise ArgumentError unless step.gcd(size) == 1
Array.new(size) { |i| self[(i * step) % size] }
end
end

Why is my filter method not removing some elements that should be removed?

I am trying to create a method called filer_out! that takes in an array and a proc, and returns the same array but with every element that returns true when it is run through the proc, with the caveat being we can't use Array#reject!
I wrote this:
def filter_out!(array, &prc)
array.each { |el| array.delete(el) if prc.call(el)}
end
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5 ]
filter_out!(arr_2) { |x| x.odd? }
p arr_2
but when I run the code, what prints out is:
[7, 5]
even though the answer should be:
[]
Upon review of the solution I see Array#uniq was used first:
def filter_out!(array, &prc)
array.uniq.each { |el| array.delete(el) if prc.call(el) }
end
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5 ]
filter_out!(arr_2) { |x| x.odd? }
p arr_2
and the correct output was displayed:
[]
So I guess what my question is, why do you have to use Array#uniq in order to get the correct solution?
thanks for your help!
The problem here is the method delete modify the original array. Here the deal if you put some information out:
def filter_out!(array, &prc)
array.each.with_index do |el, i|
p "Current index #{i}"
p "Current array #{array}"
p "Current element #{el}"
array.delete(el) if prc.call(el)
end
end
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5 ]
filter_out!(arr_2) { |x| x.odd? }
# Output:
#"Current index 0"
# "Current array [1, 7, 3, 5]"
# "Current element 1"
# "Current index 1"
# "Current array [7, 3, 5]"
# "Current element 3"
Explain:
The first time, the element is 1, after it's deleted the array is [7, 3, 5]
The second time, index in the iteration is 1, it gets the current element with this index in the current array, in this case, is 3 not 7 and delete it, after deleting the array is [3, 5]
After two times it stops iteration because the current index is out of range of the current array
By using uniq you get the right result because array.uniq it creates a copy of the original array when the original array is modified, it still iteration as expect.
Traversing an array uses an internal "cursor" of some kind that points to the current element, e.g.:
[ 1, 7, 3, 5 ] # 1st step
# ^
[ 1, 7, 3, 5 ] # 2nd step (increment cursor)
# ^
# etc.
If you remove the current element during iteration, the cursor immediately points to the next element, thus skiping an element when it gets incremented on the next turn:
[ 1, 7, 3, 5 ] # 1st step
# ^
[ 7, 3, 5 ] # 1nd step (remove element under cursor)
# ^
[ 7, 3, 5 ] # 2nd step (increment cursor)
# ^
[ 7, 5 ] # 2nd step (remove element under cursor)
# ^
# done
A typical work-around is to iterate the array in reverse order, i.e.:
[ 1, 7, 3, 5 ] # 1st step
# ^
[ 1, 7, 3 ] # 1nd step (remove element under cursor)
# ^
[ 1, 7, 3 ] # 2nd step (decrement cursor)
# ^
[ 1, 7 ] # 2nd step (remove element under cursor)
# ^
# etc.
Note that the cursor might be out of bounds in this algorithm, so you have to be careful in that regard.
The above as Ruby code:
def filter_out!(array)
(array.size - 1).downto(0) do |i|
array.delete_at(i) if yield array[i]
end
end
As a general rule, not just for this question, and not just for Ruby, it is never a good idea to mutate a collection while you are iterating over it. Just don't do that. Ever.
Actually, personally, I just think you should avoid any mutation at all, as far as feasible and sensible, but that might be a tad extreme.
Your code is also committing another cardinal sin: never mutate an argument. Ever. You should only use arguments to compute the result, you should never mutate them. That is hugely surprising to anyone who calls your method, and in programming, surprises are dangerous. They lead to bugs and security holes.
Lastly, you are using the bang ! naming convention wrong. The bang is used to mark the "more surprising" of a pair of methods. You should only have a filter_out! method if you also have a filter_out method. And speaking of style, indentation in Ruby is 2 spaces, not 4, as per standard community coding style.
Okay, having said that, let's look at what happens in your code.
Here is the relevant part of the implementation of Array#each from the Rubinius Ruby implementation, defined in core/array.rb#L62-L77:
def each
i = #start
total = i + #total
tuple = #tuple
while i < total
yield tuple.at(i)
i += 1
end
end
As you can see, it is just a simple while loop incrementing the index every time. Other Ruby implementations are similar, e.g. here is a simplified version of JRuby's implementation in core/src/main/java/org/jruby/RubyArray.java#L1805-L1818:
public IRubyObject each(ThreadContext context, Block block) {
for (int i = 0; i < size(); i++) {
block.yield(context, eltOk(i));
}
}
Again, just a simple index loop.
In your case, we are starting with an array, whose backing store looks like this:
1 7 3 5
On the first iteration of the each, the iteration counter is at index 0:
1 7 3 5
↑
1 is odd, so we delete it, and the situation now looks like this:
7 3 5
↑
The last thing we do in the loop iteration is to increase the iteration counter by one:
7 3 5
↑
Okay, in the next iteration, we check again: 3 is odd, so we delete it:
7 5
↑
We increase the iteration counter:
7 5
↑
And now we have the exit condition of our loop: i is no longer less than the size of the array: i is 2 and the size is also 2.
Note that in the JRuby implementation, the size is checked with a call to the size() method, which means it is re-calculated every time. In Rubinius, however, the size is cached, and only calculated once before the loop starts. Therefore, Rubinius will actually try to keep going here and access the third element of the backing tuple which doesn't exist, which leads to this NoMethodError exception:
NoMethodError: undefined method `odd?' on nil:NilClass.
Accessing a non-existing element of a Rubinius::Tuple returns nil, and each is then passing that nil to the block, which tries to call Integer#odd?.
It is important to note that Rubinius is doing nothing wrong here. The fact that it raises an exception is not a bug in Rubinius. The bug is in your code: mutating a collection while iterating over it is simply not allowed.
All of this now explains why the solution which calls Array#uniq first works: Array#uniq returns a new array, so the array you are iterating over (the one returned returned from Array#uniq) and the array you are mutating (the one referenced by the array parameter binding) are two different arrays. You would have gotten the same result with, e.g. Object#clone, Object#dup, Enumerable#map, or many others. Just as an example:
def filter_out(array)
array.map(&:itself).each { |el| array.delete(el) if yield el }
end
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5]
filter_out(arr_2, &:odd?)
p arr_2
However, a more idiomatic Ruby solution would be something like this:
def filter_out(array, &blk)
array.delete_if(&blk)
end
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5]
arr_3 = filter_out(arr_2, &:odd?)
p arr_3
This fixes all the problems with your code:
It doesn't mutate the array.
It doesn't mutate any argument.
In fact, there is no mutation going on at all.
It uses existing methods from the Ruby core library instead of re-inventing the wheel.
No bang !
Two spaces indentation.
The only real question is whether the method is needed at all, or if it would make more sense to just write
arr_2 = [1, 7, 3, 5]
arr_3 = arr_2.delete_if(&:odd?)
p arr_3

generalize map and reduce lab

I'm working on a lab Using a generalized map method to pass an element and block through returning multiple outcomes.
Really struggled on this one. Found some responses but they don't really make sense to me.
Here is the code:
def map(s)
new = []
i = 0
while i < s.length
new.push(yield(s[i]))
i += 1
end
new
end
Here's is the test:
it "returns an array with all values made negative" do
expect(map([1, 2, 3, -9]){|n| n * -1}).to eq([-1, -2, -3, 9])
end
it "returns an array with the original values" do
dune = ["paul", "gurney", "vladimir", "jessica", "chani"]
expect(map(dune){|n| n}).to eq(dune)
end
it "returns an array with the original values multiplied by 2" do
expect(map([1, 2, 3, -9]){|n| n * 2}).to eq([2, 4, 6, -18])
end
it "returns an array with the original values squared" do
expect(map([1, 2, 3, -9]){|n| n * n}).to eq([1, 4, 9, 81])
end
end
I don't get how the above code can give you these 4 different results.
Could someone help me understand it ?
Thank you for your help!
How your method map works
To see how your method operates let's modify your code to add some intermediate variables and some puts statements to show the values of those variables.
def map(s)
new = []
i = 0
n = s.length
puts "s has length #{n}"
while i < n
puts "i = #{i}"
e = s[i]
puts " Yield #{e} to the block"
rv = yield(e)
puts " The block's return value is #{rv}. Push #{rv} onto new"
new.push(rv)
puts " new now equals #{new}"
i += 1
end
puts "We now return the value of new"
new
end
Now let's execute the method with one of the blocks of interest.
s = [1, 2, 3, -9]
map(s) { |n| n * 2 }
#=> [2, 4, 6, -18] (return value of method)
The following is displayed.
s has length 4
i = 0
Yield 1 to the block
The block's return value is 2. Push 2 onto new
new now equals [2]
i = 1
Yield 2 to the block
The block's return value is 4. Push 4 onto new
new now equals [2, 4]
i = 2
Yield 3 to the block
The block's return value is 6. Push 6 onto new
new now equals [2, 4, 6]
i = 3
Yield -9 to the block
The block's return value is -18. Push -18 onto new
new now equals [2, 4, 6, -18]
We now return the value of new
It may by of interest to execute this modified method with different values of s and different blocks.
A replacement for Array#map?
Is this a replacement for Array#map (or Enumerable#map, but for now let's just consider Array#map)? As you defined it at the top level your map is an instance method of the class Object:
Object.instance_methods.include?(:map) #=> true
It must be invoked map([1,2,3]) { |n| ... } whereas Array#map is invoked [1,2,3].map { |n| ... }. Therefore, for your method map to be a replacement for Array#map you need to define it as follows.
class Array
def map
new = []
i = 0
while i < length
new.push(yield(self[i]))
i += 1
end
new
end
end
[1, 2, 3, -9].map { |n| n * 2 }
#=> [2, 4, 6, -18]
Simplify
We can simplify this method as follows.
class Array
def map
new = []
each { |e| new << yield(e) }
new
end
end
[1, 2, 3, -9].map { |n| n * 2 }
#=> [2, 4, 6, -18]
or, better:
class Array
def map
each_with_object([]) { |e,new| new << yield(e) }
end
end
See Enumerable#each_with_object.
Note that while i < length is equivalent to while i < self.length, because self., if omitted, is implicit, and therefore redundant. Similarly, each { |e| new << yield(e) } is equivalent to self.each { |e| new << yield(e) } and each_with_object([]) { ... } is equivalent to self.each_with_object([]) { ... }.
Are we finished?
If we examine the doc Array#map carefully we see that there are two forms of the method. The first is when map takes a block. Our method Array#map mimics that behaviour and that is the only behaviour needed to satisfy the given rspec tests.
There is a second form, however, where map is not given a block, in which case it returns an enumerator. That allows us to chain the method to another. For example (with Ruby's Array#map),
['cat', 'dog', 'pig'].map.with_index do |animal, i|
i.even? ? animal.upcase : animal
end
#=> ["CAT", "dog", "PIG"]
We could modify our Array#map to incorporate this second behaviour as follows.
class Array
def map
if block_given?
each_with_object([]) { |e,new| new << yield(e) }
else
to_enum(:map)
end
end
end
[1, 2, 3, -9].map { |n| n * 2 }
#=> [2, 4, 6, -18]
['cat', 'dog', 'pig'].map.with_index do |animal, i|
i.even? ? animal.upcase : animal
end
#=> ["CAT", "dog", "PIG"]
See Kernel#block_given? and Object#to_enum.
Notes
You might use, say, arr, rather than s as the variable holding the array, as s often denotes a string, just as h typically denotes a hash. One generally avoids names for variables and custom methods that are the names of core Ruby methods. That is also an objection to your use of new as a variable name, as there are many core methods named new.

Ruby inject with index and brackets

I try to clean my Code. The first Version uses each_with_index. In the second version I tried to compact the code with the Enumerable.inject_with_index-construct, that I found here.
It works now, but seems to me as obscure as the first code.
Add even worse I don't understand the brackets around element,index in
.. .inject(groups) do |group_container, (element,index)|
but they are necessary
What is the use of these brackets?
How can I make the code clear and readable?
FIRST VERSION -- WITH "each_with_index"
class Array
# splits as good as possible to groups of same size
# elements are sorted. I.e. low elements go to the first group,
# and high elements to the last group
#
# the default for number_of_groups is 4
# because the intended use case is
# splitting statistic data in 4 quartiles
#
# a = [1, 8, 7, 5, 4, 2, 3, 8]
# a.sorted_in_groups(3) # => [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 7], [8, 8]]
#
# b = [[7, 8, 9], [4, 5, 7], [2, 8]]
# b.sorted_in_groups(2) {|sub_ary| sub_ary.sum } # => [ [[2, 8], [4, 5, 7]], [[7, 8, 9]] ]
def sorted_in_groups(number_of_groups = 4)
groups = Array.new(number_of_groups) { Array.new }
return groups if size == 0
average_group_size = size.to_f / number_of_groups.to_f
sorted = block_given? ? self.sort_by {|element| yield(element)} : self.sort
sorted.each_with_index do |element, index|
group_number = (index.to_f / average_group_size).floor
groups[group_number] << element
end
groups
end
end
SECOND VERSION -- WITH "inject" AND index
class Array
def sorted_in_groups(number_of_groups = 4)
groups = Array.new(number_of_groups) { Array.new }
return groups if size == 0
average_group_size = size.to_f / number_of_groups.to_f
sorted = block_given? ? self.sort_by {|element| yield(element)} : self.sort
sorted.each_with_index.inject(groups) do |group_container, (element,index)|
group_number = (index.to_f / average_group_size).floor
group_container[group_number] << element
group_container
end
end
end
What is the use of these brackets?
It's a very nice feature of ruby. I call it "destructuring array assignment", but it probably has an official name too.
Here's how it works. Let's say you have an array
arr = [1, 2, 3]
Then you assign this array to a list of names, like this:
a, b, c = arr
a # => 1
b # => 2
c # => 3
You see, the array was "destructured" into its individual elements. Now, to the each_with_index. As you know, it's like a regular each, but also returns an index. inject doesn't care about all this, it takes input elements and passes them to its block as is. If input element is an array (elem/index pair from each_with_index), then we can either take it apart in the block body
sorted.each_with_index.inject(groups) do |group_container, pair|
element, index = pair
# or
# element = pair[0]
# index = pair[1]
# rest of your code
end
Or destructure that array right in the block signature. Parentheses there are necessary to give ruby a hint that this is a single parameter that needs to be split in several.
Hope this helps.
lines = %w(a b c)
indexes = lines.each_with_index.inject([]) do |acc, (el, ind)|
acc << ind - 1 if el == "b"
acc
end
indexes # => [0]
What is the use of these brackets?
To understand the brackets, first you need to understand how destruction works in ruby. The simplest example I can think of this this:
1.8.7 :001 > [[1,3],[2,4]].each do |a,b|
1.8.7 :002 > puts a, b
1.8.7 :003?> end
1
3
2
4
You should know how each function works, and that the block receives one parameter. So what happens when you pass two parameters? It takes the first element [1,3] and try to split (destruct) it in two, and the result is a=1 and b=3.
Now, inject takes two arguments in the block parameter, so it is usually looks like |a,b|. So passing a parameter like |group_container, (element,index)| we are in fact taking the first one as any other, and destructing the second in two others (so, if the second parameter is [1,3], element=1 and index=3). The parenthesis are needed because if we used |group_container, element, index| we would never know if we are destructing the first or the second parameter, so the parenthesis there works as disambiguation.
9In fact, things works a bit different in the bottom end, but lets hide this for this given question.)
Seems like there already some answers given with good explanation. I want to add some information regards the clear and readable.
Instead of the solution you chose, it is also a possibility to extend Enumerable and add this functionality.
module Enumerable
# The block parameter is not needed but creates more readable code.
def inject_with_index(memo = self.first, &block)
skip = memo.equal?(self.first)
index = 0
self.each_entry do |entry|
if skip
skip = false
else
memo = yield(memo, index, entry)
end
index += 1
end
memo
end
end
This way you can call inject_with_index like so:
# m = memo, i = index, e = entry
(1..3).inject_with_index(0) do |m, i, e|
puts "m: #{m}, i: #{i}, e: #{e}"
m + i + e
end
#=> 9
If you not pass an initial value the first element will be used, thus not executing the block for the first element.
In case, someone is here from 2013+ year, you have each_with_object and with_index for your needs:
records.each_with_object({}).with_index do |(record, memo), index|
memo[record.uid] = "#{index} in collection}"
end

what's different between each and collect method in Ruby [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Array#each vs. Array#map
(7 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
From this code I don't know the difference between the two methods, collect and each.
a = ["L","Z","J"].collect{|x| puts x.succ} #=> M AA K
print a.class #=> Array
b = ["L","Z","J"].each{|x| puts x.succ} #=> M AA K
print b.class #=> Array
Array#each takes an array and applies the given block over all items. It doesn't affect the array or creates a new object. It is just a way of looping over items. Also it returns self.
arr=[1,2,3,4]
arr.each {|x| puts x*2}
Prints 2,4,6,8 and returns [1,2,3,4] no matter what
Array#collect is same as Array#map and it applies the given block of code on all the items and returns the new array. simply put 'Projects each element of a sequence into a new form'
arr.collect {|x| x*2}
Returns [2,4,6,8]
And In your code
a = ["L","Z","J"].collect{|x| puts x.succ} #=> M AA K
a is an Array but it is actually an array of Nil's [nil,nil,nil] because puts x.succ returns nil (even though it prints M AA K).
And
b = ["L","Z","J"].each{|x| puts x.succ} #=> M AA K
also is an Array. But its value is ["L","Z","J"], because it returns self.
Array#each just takes each element and puts it into the block, then returns the original array. Array#collect takes each element and puts it into a new array that gets returned:
[1, 2, 3].each { |x| x + 1 } #=> [1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3].collect { |x| x + 1 } #=> [2, 3, 4]
each is for when you want to iterate over an array, and do whatever you want in each iteration. In most (imperative) languages, this is the "one size fits all" hammer that programmers reach for when you need to process a list.
For more functional languages, you only do this sort of generic iteration if you can't do it any other way. Most of the time, either map or reduce will be more appropriate (collect and inject in ruby)
collect is for when you want to turn one array into another array
inject is for when you want to turn an array into a single value
Here are the two source code snippets, according to the docs...
VALUE
rb_ary_each(VALUE ary)
{
long i;
RETURN_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0);
for (i=0; i<RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
rb_yield(RARRAY_PTR(ary)[i]);
}
return ary;
}
# .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ....
static VALUE
rb_ary_collect(VALUE ary)
{
long i;
VALUE collect;
RETURN_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0);
collect = rb_ary_new2(RARRAY_LEN(ary));
for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
rb_ary_push(collect, rb_yield(RARRAY_PTR(ary)[i]));
}
return collect;
}
rb_yield() returns the value returned by the block (see also this blog post on metaprogramming).
So each just yields and returns the original array, while collect creates a new array and pushes the results of the block into it; then it returns this new array.
Source snippets: each, collect
The difference is what it returns. In your example above
a == [nil,nil,nil] (the value of puts x.succ) while b == ["L", "Z", "J"] (the original array)
From the ruby-doc, collect does the following:
Invokes block once for each element of
self. Creates a new array containing
the values returned by the block.
Each always returns the original array. Makes sense?
Each is a method defined by all classes that include the Enumerable module. Object.eachreturns a Enumerable::Enumerator Object. This is what other Enumerable methods use to iterate through the object. each methods of each class behaves differently.
In Array class when a block is passed to each, it performs statements of the block on each element, but in the end returns self.This is useful when you don't need an array, but you maybe just want to choose elements from the array and use the as arguments to other methods. inspect and map return a new array with return values of execution of the block on each element. You can use map! and collect! to perform operations on the original array.
I think an easier way to understand it would be as below:
nums = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5]
square = nums.each { |num| num ** 2 } # => [1, 1, 2, 3, 5]
Instead, if you use collect:
square = nums.collect { |num| num ** 2 } # => [1, 1, 4, 9, 25]
And plus, you can use .collect! to mutate the original array.

Resources