How to break outer cycle in Ruby? - ruby

In Perl, there is an ability to break an outer cycle like this:
AAA: for my $stuff (#otherstuff) {
for my $foo (#bar) {
last AAA if (somethingbad());
}
}
(syntax may be wrong), which uses a loop label to break the outer loop from inside the inner loop. Is there anything similar in Ruby?

Consider throw/catch. Normally the outside loop in the below code will run five times, but with throw you can change it to whatever you like, breaking it in the process. Consider this perfectly valid ruby code:
catch (:done) do
5.times { |i|
5.times { |j|
puts "#{i} #{j}"
throw :done if i + j > 5
}
}
end

What you want is non-local control-flow, which Ruby has several options for doing:
Continuations,
Exceptions, and
throw/catch
Continuations
Pros:
Continuations are the standard mechanism for non-local control-flow. In fact, you can build any non-local control-flow (subroutines, procedures, functions, methods, coroutines, state machines, generators, conditions, exceptions) on top of them: they are pretty much the nicer twin of GOTO.
Cons:
Continuations are not a mandatory part of the Ruby Language Specification, which means that some implementations (XRuby, JRuby, Ruby.NET, IronRuby) don't implement them. So, you can't rely on them.
Exceptions
Pros:
There is a paper that proves mathematically that Exceptions can be more powerful than Continuations. IOW: they can do everything that continuations can do, and more, so you can use them as a replacement for continuations.
Exceptions are universally available.
Cons:
They are called "exceptions" which makes people think that they are "only for exceptional circumstances". This means three things: somebody reading your code might not understand it, the implementation might not be optimized for it (and, yes, exceptions are godawful slow in almost any Ruby implementation) and worst of all, you will get sick of all those people constantly, mindlessly babbling "exceptions are only for exceptional circumstances", as soon as they glance at your code. (Of course, they won't even try to understand what you are doing.)
throw/catch
This is (roughly) what it would look like:
catch :aaa do
stuff.each do |otherstuff|
foo.each do |bar|
throw :aaa if somethingbad
end
end
end
Pros:
The same as exceptions.
In Ruby 1.9, using exceptions for control-flow is actually part of the language specification! Loops, enumerators, iterators and such all use a StopIteration exception for termination.
Cons:
The Ruby community hates them even more than using exceptions for control-flow.

No, there isn't.
Your options are:
put the loop in a method and use return to break from the outer loop
set or return a flag from the inner loop and then check that flag in the outer loop and break from it when the flag is set (which is kind of cumbersome)
use throw/catch to break out of the loop

while c1
while c2
do_break=true
end
next if do_break
end
or "break if do_break" depending on what you want

Perhaps this is what you want? (not tested)
stuff.find do |otherstuff|
foo.find do
somethingbad() && AAA
end
end
The find method keeps looping until the block returns a non null value or the end of the list is hit.

Wrapping an internal method around the loops could do the trick
Example:
test = [1,2,3]
test.each do |num|
def internalHelper
for i in 0..3
for j in 0..3
puts "this should happen only 3 times"
if true
return
end
end
end
end
internalHelper
end
Here you can do a check inside any of the for loops and return from the internal method once a condition is met.

I know I will regret this in the morning but simply using a while loop could do the trick.
x=0
until x==10
x+=1
y=0
until y==10
y+=1
if y==5 && x==3
x,y=10,10
end
end
break if x==10
puts x
end
The if y==5 && x==3 is only an example of an expression turning true.

You may consider adding a flag, which is set inside the inner loop, for controlling the outer loop.
'next' the outer loop
for i in (1 .. 5)
next_outer_loop = false
for j in (1 .. 5)
if j > i
next_outer_loop = true if j % 2 == 0
break
end
puts "i: #{i}, j: #{j}"
end
print "i: #{i} "
if next_outer_loop
puts "with 'next'"
next
end
puts "withOUT 'next'"
end
'break' the outer loop
for i in (1 .. 5)
break_outer_loop = false
for j in (1 .. 5)
if j > i
break_outer_loop = true if i > 3
break
end
puts "i: #{i}, j: #{j}"
end
break if break_outer_loop
puts "i: #{i}"
end

Related

callcc in ruby cause infinite loop?

I'm trying to review the slides of class. The code is supposed to print "early work" once then followed by "later work" twice(you can set the repeat number of the later work). But I wonder why this code doesn't work, and how can I modify the code? Since now the code will generate infinite loop of "later work" rather than 2(which is supposed to be)
require 'continuation'
def work
p "early work"
here = callcc {|here| here}
p "later work"
return here
end
def rework(k)
entry = work
k.times do |i|
entry.call(entry)
end
end
rework(2)
The code doesn't work because the loop counter in k.times is stuck. Each call to entry.call(entry) rewinds the program to when callcc returns. So callcc returns again, the later work happens again, work returns again, and k.times starts again. When k.times starts, it resets its loop counter to zero. The infinite loop is because the loop counter is always zero.
To fix the program, we must continue the loop, not restart it. The best fix is to use a fiber, but first, I try to use a continuation. Here's the version that works on my machine:
require 'continuation'
def work
p "early work"
here = callcc {|here| here}
p "later work"
return here
end
class Integer
def my_times
i = 0
while i < self
yield i
i += 1
end
end
end
def rework(k)
entry = nil
k.my_times do |i|
if i == 0
entry = work
else
entry.call(entry)
end
end
end
rework(2)
I fix the control flow by calling work inside the loop. When work returns again, I don't reset the loop counter.
I also define my own Integer#my_times and don't use Ruby's Integer#times. If I change the code from k.my_times back to k.times, the loop counter gets stuck again. This exposes a problem with continuation objects in Ruby.
When a continuation rewinds a program, it might rewind or preserve the values of local variables. My program assumes that entry.call preserves the loop counter. Matz's Ruby Implementation preserves the loop counter in Integer#my_times, but rewinds the loop counter in Integer#times. This is the only reason why my program can't use Integer#times.
MRI seems to rewind locals in C code (like Integer#times) but preserve locals in Ruby code (like Integer#my_times). This makes a mess of loop counters and other locals. Ruby does not fix this mess, but warns against callcc. Ruby says, warning: callcc is obsolete; use Fiber instead.
Here's the program using a fiber:
def work
p "early work"
here = Fiber.new do
while true
p "later work"
Fiber.yield
end
end
here.resume
return here
end
def rework(k)
entry = nil
k.times do |i|
if i == 0
entry = work
else
entry.resume
end
end
end
rework(2)

How to break from a nested loop to a parent loop that is more than one level above which requires a value provided by the nested loop

In the following situation:
xxx.delete_if do |x|
yyy.descend do |y| # This is a pathname.descend
zzz.each do |z|
if x + y == z
# Do something
# Break all nested loops returning to "xxx.delete_if do |x|" loop
# The "xxx.delete_if do |x|" must receive a "true" so that it
# can delete the array item
end
end
end
end
What is the best way to achieve this multiple nested break while making sure I can pass the true value so that the array item is deleted?
Maybe I should use multiple break statements that return true or use a throw/catch with a variable, but I don't know if those are the best answer.
This question is different from How to break from nested loops in Ruby? because it requires that the parent loop receives a value from the nested loop.
throw/catch (NOT raise/rescue) is the way I typically see this done.
xxx.delete_if do |x|
catch(:done) do
yyy.each do |y|
zzz.each do |z|
if x + y == z
# Do something
throw(:done, true)
end
end
end
false
end
end
In fact, the Pickaxe explicitly recommends it:
While the exception mechanism of raise and rescue is great for abandoning execution when things go wrong, it's sometimes nice to be able to jump out of some deeply nested construct during normal processing. This is where catch and throw come in handy. When Ruby encounters a throw, it zips back up the call stack looking for a catch block with a matching symbol. When it finds it, Ruby unwinds the stack to that point and terminates the block. If the throw is called with the optional second parameter, that value is returned as the value of the catch.
That said, max's #any? suggestion is a better fit for this problem.
You can use multiple break statements.
For example:
xxx.delete_if do |x|
result = yyy.each do |y|
result2 = zzz.each do |z|
if x + y == z
break true
end
end
break true if result2 == true
end
result == true
end
However I would definitely avoid this in your particular situation.
You shouldn't be assigning variables to the result of each. Use map, reduce, select, reject, any?, all?, etc. instead
It makes more sense to use any? to accomplish the same purpose:
xxx.delete_if do |x|
yyy.any? do |y|
zzz.any? do |z|
x + y == z
end
end
end

What is prefered way to loop in Ruby?

Why is each loop preferred over for loop in Ruby? Is there a difference in time complexity or are they just syntactically different?
Yes, these are two different ways of iterating over, But hope this calculation helps.
require 'benchmark'
a = Array( 1..100000000 )
sum = 0
Benchmark.realtime {
a.each { |x| sum += x }
}
This takes 5.866932 sec
a = Array( 1..100000000 )
sum = 0
Benchmark.realtime {
for x in a
sum += x
end
}
This takes 6.146521 sec.
Though its not a right way to do the benchmarking, there are some other constraints too. But on a single machine, each seems to be a bit faster than for.
The variable referencing an item in iteration is temporary and does not have significance outside of the iteration. It is better if it is hidden from outside of the iteration. With external iterators, such variable is located outside of the iteration block. In the following, e is useful only within do ... end, but is separated from the block, and written outside of it; it does not look easy to a programmer:
for e in [:foo, :bar] do
...
end
With internal iterators, the block variable is defined right inside the block, where it is used. It is easier to read:
[:foo, :bar].each do |e|
...
end
This visibility issue is not just for a programmer. With respect to visibility in the sense of scope, the variable for an external iterator is accessible outside of the iteration:
for e in [:foo] do; end
e # => :foo
whereas in internal iterator, a block variable is invisible from outside:
[:foo].each do |e|; end
e # => undefined local variable or method `e'
The latter is better from the point of view of encapsulation.
When you want to nest the loops, the order of variables would be somewhat backwards with external iterators:
for a in [[:foo, :bar]] do
for e in a do
...
end
end
but with internal iterators, the order is more straightforward:
[[:foo, :bar]].each do |a|
a.each do |e|
...
end
end
With external iterators, you can only use hard-coded Ruby syntax, and you also have to remember the matching between the keyword and the method that is internally called (for calls each), but for internal iterators, you can define your own, which gives flexibility.
each is the Ruby Way. Implements the Iterator Pattern that has decoupling benefits.
Check also this: "for" vs "each" in Ruby
An interesting question. There are several ways of looping in Ruby. I have noted that there is a design principle in Ruby, that when there are multiple ways of doing the same, there are usually subtle differences between them, and each case has its own unique use, its own problem that it solves. So in the end you end up needing to be able to write (and not just to read) all of them.
As for the question about for loop, this is similar to my earlier question whethe for loop is a trap.
Basically there are 2 main explicit ways of looping, one is by iterators (or, more generally, blocks), such as
[1, 2, 3].each { |e| puts e * 10 }
[1, 2, 3].map { |e| e * 10 )
# etc., see Array and Enumerable documentation for more iterator methods.
Connected to this way of iterating is the class Enumerator, which you should strive to understand.
The other way is Pascal-ish looping by while, until and for loops.
for y in [1, 2, 3]
puts y
end
x = 0
while x < 3
puts x; x += 1
end
# same for until loop
Like if and unless, while and until have their tail form, such as
a = 'alligator'
a.chop! until a.chars.last == 'g'
#=> 'allig'
The third very important way of looping is implicit looping, or looping by recursion. Ruby is extremely malleable, all classes are modifiable, hooks can be set up for various events, and this can be exploited to produce most unusual ways of looping. The possibilities are so endless that I don't even know where to start talking about them. Perhaps a good place is the blog by Yusuke Endoh, a well known artist working with Ruby code as his artistic material of choice.
To demonstrate what I mean, consider this loop
class Object
def method_missing sym
s = sym.to_s
if s.chars.last == 'g' then s else eval s.chop end
end
end
alligator
#=> "allig"
Aside of readability issues, the for loop iterates in the Ruby land whereas each does it from native code, so in principle each should be more efficient when iterating all elements in an array.
Loop with each:
arr.each {|x| puts x}
Loop with for:
for i in 0..arr.length
puts arr[i]
end
In the each case we are just passing a code block to a method implemented in the machine's native code (fast code), whereas in the for case, all code must be interpreted and run taking into account all the complexity of the Ruby language.
However for is more flexible and lets you iterate in more complex ways than each does, for example, iterating with a given step.
EDIT
I didn't come across that you can step over a range by using the step() method before calling each(), so the flexibility I claimed for the for loop is actually unjustified.

program using while with array values

I am trying to write a small program that goes through an array's values outputting each individual value. When it reaches 15 it stops and outputs "too big".
Why is my logic below wrong, it makes sense to me..
x = [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
def counting
for x[y]
while y < 15
puts y
else
puts "too big"
end
puts counting
I'm just learning sorry if this is a really simple solution.
That's nothing at all like Ruby syntax. You want a .each and a simple if statement:
x.each do |y|
if y < 15
puts y
else
puts "too big"
break
end
end
It appears though you are trying to use Ruby like you would a c-style programming language. It's possible and viable, albeit not recommended.
Code Blocks
Ruby has structure known as code blocks. Code blocks are sort of like anonymous functions.
You can read more about code blocks here.
x = [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
# This is a code block.
x.each do |y| # The y between the '|'s is the parameter caught by the code block
if y < 15
puts y
else
puts "Too big."
break # Break out of the loop
end
end
If you want a one liner:
x.each {|y| y < 15 ? puts(y) : puts("too big") || break }
If you insist using while, it can be done as following:
i = 0
while i do
x[i] < 15 ? puts(x[i]) : puts("too big") || break
i+=1
end
I think the cleanest way to do this using while would be:
def counting(x)
i = 0
while x[i] < 15
puts x[i]
i += 1
end
puts 'too big'
end
counting([10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18])
Why is my logic below wrong, it makes sense to me..
Given that you program isn't even syntactically legal, it's impossible to tell what its semantics would be if it were syntactically legal, let alone why those semantics were wrong. However, here's an idiomatic Ruby solution (you will almost never use nor see while in any Ruby code, and you will certainly never see for):
puts x.take_while {|n| n < 15 }
puts 'too big'
I prefer writing in point-free style, however in this case the only way to do that is to make use of the symmetry of the condition and invert the order of operands, which will lead to awkward logic:
x.take_while(&15.method(:>))
Ao, in this case I would rather avoid point-free style, because it no longer matches the original specification literally. Instead of "take all numbers less than 15", we now have "take all numbers such that 15 is greater than those numbers", which reads awkward.

Ruby for loop a trap?

In a discussion of Ruby loops, Niklas B. recently talked about for loop 'not introducing a new scope', as compared to each loop. I'd like to see some examples of how does one feel this.
O.K., I expand the question: Where else in Ruby do we see what apears do/end block delimiters, but there is actually no scope inside? Anything else apart from for ... do ... end?
O.K., One more expansion of the question, is there a way to write for loop with curly braces { block } ?
Let's illustrate the point by an example:
results = []
(1..3).each do |i|
results << lambda { i }
end
p results.map(&:call) # => [1,2,3]
Cool, this is what was expected. Now check the following:
results = []
for i in 1..3
results << lambda { i }
end
p results.map(&:call) # => [3,3,3]
Huh, what's going on? Believe me, these kinds of bugs are nasty to track down. Python or JS developers will know what I mean :)
That alone is a reason for me to avoid these loops like the plague, although there are more good arguments in favor of this position. As Ben pointed out correctly, using the proper method from Enumerable almost always leads to better code than using plain old, imperative for loops or the fancier Enumerable#each. For instance, the above example could also be concisely written as
lambdas = 1.upto(3).map { |i| lambda { i } }
p lambdas.map(&:call)
I expand the question: Where else in Ruby do we see what apears do/end block delimiters, but there is actually no scope inside? Anything else apart from for ... do ... end?
Every single one of the looping constructs can be used that way:
while true do
#...
end
until false do
# ...
end
On the other hand, we can write every one of these without the do (which is obviously preferrable):
for i in 1..3
end
while true
end
until false
end
One more expansion of the question, is there a way to write for loop with curly braces { block }
No, there is not. Also note that the term "block" has a special meaning in Ruby.
First, I'll explain why you wouldn't want to use for, and then explain why you might.
The main reason you wouldn't want to use for is that it's un-idiomatic. If you use each, you can easily replace that each with a map or a find or an each_with_index without a major change of your code. But there's no for_map or for_find or for_with_index.
Another reason is that if you create a variable within a block within each, and it hasn't been created before-hand, it'll only stay in existance for as long as that loop exists. Getting rid of variables once you have no use for them is a good thing.
Now I'll mention why you might want to use for. each creates a closure for each loop, and if you repeat that loop too many times, that loop can cause performance problems. In https://stackoverflow.com/a/10325493/38765 , I posted that using a while loop rather than a block made it slower.
RUN_COUNT = 10_000_000
FIRST_STRING = "Woooooha"
SECOND_STRING = "Woooooha"
def times_double_equal_sign
RUN_COUNT.times do |i|
FIRST_STRING == SECOND_STRING
end
end
def loop_double_equal_sign
i = 0
while i < RUN_COUNT
FIRST_STRING == SECOND_STRING
i += 1
end
end
times_double_equal_sign consistently took 2.4 seconds, while loop_double_equal_sign was consistently 0.2 to 0.3 seconds faster.
In https://stackoverflow.com/a/6475413/38765 , I found that executing an empty loop took 1.9 seconds, whereas executing an empty block took 5.7 seconds.
Know why you wouldn't want to use for, know why you would want to use for, and only use the latter when you need to. Unless you feel nostalgic for other languages. :)
Well, even blocks are not perfect in Ruby prior to 1.9. They don't always introduce new scope:
i = 0
results = []
(1..3).each do |i|
results << lambda { i }
end
i = 5
p results.map(&:call) # => [5,5,5]

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