I am trying to write a function. Here is the code.
def get_sum(a,b)
if a == b do
return a
end
else
total = 0
for num in a...b
total += num
end
return total
end
end
I get this error:
undefined method `b' for main:Object (NoMethodError)
Can anyone tell me why I get this?
No do for ifs
if a == b
return a
end
Note that you can do the same thing so
def get_sum(a, b)
return a if a == b
(a...b).inject(:+)
end
It is because you have a block do ... end after b. Neither the keyword if nor the syntax sugar form ... == ... accepts a block. The only possibility left to interpret your code syntactically is to interpret b as a method that takes this do ... end block, and that is how it is parsed.
Related
def fibs_rec(n)
return 1 if n == 1 || n == 0
puts fibs_rec(n-1) + fibs_rec(n-2)
end
fibs_rec(5)
It's giving me the error
"undefined method '+' for nil:Nilclass"
I dont know what that means. How is it being turned to nil.
Make the method actually return the generated number:
def fibs_rec(n)
return 1 if n == 1 || n == 0
(fibs_rec(n-1) + fibs_rec(n-2)).tap do |result|
puts result
end
end
.tap lets you yield an object to a block and always return the object itself.
When you do recursion, the recursive function (or method in Ruby's term) must return a value. Ruby's puts method, on the other hand, returns nil.
You must move the puts method out of the recursion so that the fibs_rec method always returns a value.
When using an accumulator, does the accumulator exist only within the reduce block or does it exist within the function?
I have a method that looks like:
def my_useless_function(str)
crazy_letters = ['a','s','d','f','g','h']
str.split.reduce([]) do |new_array, letter|
for a in 0..crazy_letters.length-1
if letter == crazy_letters[a]
new_array << letter
end
end
end
return true if (new_array == new_array.sort)
end
When I execute this code I get the error
"undefined variable new_array in line 11 (the return statement)"
I also tried assigning the new_array value to another variable as an else statement inside my reduce block but that gave me the same results.
Can someone explain to me why this is happening?
The problem is that new_array is created during the call to reduce, and then the reference is lost afterwards. Local variables in Ruby are scoped to the block they are in. The array can be returned from reduce in your case, so you could use it there. However, you need to fix a couple things:
str.split does not break a string into characters in Ruby 2+. You should use str.chars, or str.split('').
The object retained for each new iteration of reduce must be retained by returning it from the block each time. The simplest way to do this is to put new_array as the last expression in your block.
Thus:
def my_useless_function(str)
crazy_letters = ['a','s','d','f','g','h']
crazy_only = str.split('').reduce([]) do |new_array, letter|
for a in 0..crazy_letters.length-1
if letter == crazy_letters[a]
new_array << letter
end
end
new_array
end
return true if (crazy_only == crazy_only.sort)
end
Note that your function is not very efficient, and not very idiomatic. Here's a shorter version of the function that is more idiomatic, but not much more efficient:
def my_useless_function(str)
crazy_letters = %w[a s d f g h]
crazy_only = str.chars.select{ |c| crazy_letters.include?(c) }
crazy_only == crazy_only.sort # evaluates to true or false
end
And here's a version that's more efficient:
def efficient_useless(str)
crazy_only = str.scan(/[asdfgh]/) # use regex to search for the letters you want
crazy_only == crazy_only.sort
end
Block local variables
new_array doesn't exist outside the block of your reduce call. It's a "block local variable".
reduce does return an object, though, and you should use it inside your method.
sum = [1, 2, 3].reduce(0){ |acc, elem| acc + elem }
puts sum
# 6
puts acc
# undefined local variable or method `acc' for main:Object (NameError)
Your code
Here's the least amount of change for your method :
def my_useless_function(str)
crazy_letters = ['a','s','d','f','g','h']
new_array = str.split(//).reduce([]) do |new_array, letter|
for a in 0..crazy_letters.length-1
if letter == crazy_letters[a]
new_array << letter
end
end
new_array
end
return true if (new_array == new_array.sort)
end
Notes:
return isn't needed at the end.
true if ... isn't needed either
for loop should never be used in Ruby
reduce returns the result of the last expression inside the block. It was for in your code.
If you always need to return the same object in reduce, it might be a sign you could use each_with_object.
"test".split is just ["test"]
String and Enumerable have methods that could help you. Using them, you could write a much cleaner and more efficient method, as in #Phrogz answer.
What's wrong here? I don't see how the two fragments can behave differently, yet they do.
Full code, try with one or the other while:
class T
def initialize
#e=[4,2]
end
def shift
r=#e.shift
puts "[#{r.inspect}]"
r
end
end
exns=T.new
while (p || (p=exns.shift))
#while p ||= exns.shift
puts "p: #{p.inspect}"
p -= 1
p=nil if p<1
puts " #{p.inspect}"
puts "T" if p
end
The 'while (p || (p=exns.shift))' never seems to short-circuit for some reason. I'd like to know the reason.
Your problem is with the letter you chose to name your variable - p is not like other letters (say q), since it is also the name of the Kernel method p():
p
# => nil
q
# NameError: undefined local variable or method `q' for main:Object
for that reason, because you did not define a local variable names p before the while loop, it is actually declared only inside the scope of the loop.
To see how this matters, simply add the following line before the loop:
p = nil
Now, both options act the same.
Can you help me understand what this class does and how we can make use of it?
class Integer
def myt
c=0
until c == self
yield(c)
c+=1
end
self
end
end
Thank you.
x = Integer.new
x.myt
I tried to test it but it doesn't work. Error is: "no block given (yield)"
Also, in my book it says to test like this:
5.myt (|| puts "I'm on iteration #{i}! "} but it also gives an error - not sure why or what this line of code means.
allonhadaya and PNY did a good job explaining the purpose (enumeration) of the myt method.
Regarding your two questions mentioned in the title:
1.) What does 'c == self' do?
The '==' operator checks whether the integer c and Integer object you instantiate, are equal in value. If they are, the expression evaluates to true.
2.) What does 'yield' do?
The 'yield' statement passes control from the current method to a block which has been provided to the method. Blocks are ruby's implementation of a closure which, simple put, means that a method can be "extended" by calling the method with a block of additional code as long as the method supports a block (ie. incorporates yield statements)
The method seems to be a times implementation.
Basically 5.times { |i| puts i } and 5.myt { |i| puts i } will do exactly the same thing.
First, it sets a counter to 0, c = 0. Then you have a conditional where it checks if c is equal with self which will always be the integer attached to the method myt. It, then yields the counter and return self when is done.
Looks like it enumerates the values between zero inclusively and self exclusively.
allon#ahadaya:~$ irb
irb(main):001:0> class Integer
irb(main):002:1> def myt
irb(main):003:2> c=0
irb(main):004:2> until c == self
irb(main):005:3> yield(c)
irb(main):006:3> c+=1
irb(main):007:3> end
irb(main):008:2> self
irb(main):009:2> end
irb(main):010:1> end
=> nil
irb(main):011:0> 5.myt { |i| puts i }
0
1
2
3
4
=> 5
irb(main):012:0>
Using the example your book gave --
5.myt {|i| puts "I'm on iteration #{i}! "}
#You were missing an object in the pipes and a curly bracket before the pipes (not parentheses)
Allows you to see the internal workings of your myt method. Initializing variable c with a value of 0 the method executes an until look until the condition "c == self" is satisfied. Self references the object, here 5, which the method is acting on.
Therefore ...
def myt
until c == 5 #Until this is true
yield(c) #Do this .. here yield will do whatever the block specified
c+=1 #Increment on each iteration the value of variable c by 1
end #closing the until loop
self #return self
end
The yield within the method passes control from your method to the parameter, a block, back to the method.
Yield therefore allows you to build methods which can have similar patterns but with block you customize it to do your particular need.
If instead of putting each number maybe all you want to do is put the odd integers between 0 and the integer you call the method on --
5.myt {|i| puts i if i.odd?} # returns I am odd: 1 and I am odd: 3
I would suggest that you write your own blocks here to see how yield works and how you can keep the same method but pass in different blocks and create different method outputs!
I am not sure why this method is not running.
The compile error reads:
sequence5.rb:1:in `sequence5': wrong number of arguments (2 for 1) (ArgumentError) from sequence5.rb:11:in `<main>'
But as you can see clearly, sequence5 method should take 2 arguments, one for args hash and the other for b proc.
The code I'm trying to run is here.
def sequence5(args, &b)
n, m, c = args[:n], args[:m], args[:c]
i = 0
while i < n
b.call(i*m+c)
i += 1
end
end
p = Proc.new {|x| puts x}
sequence5({:n=>3, :m=>4, :c=>0}, p)
sequence5({:n=>3, :m=>4, :c=>0}, &p)
p is not an argument, it's a block and Ruby has different syntax for passing a block