Ruby - learning

06/01/2015 cheatsheet

#1. Variable in ruby class

Local variable: defined inside a method, the usage of local variable in only inside a method. Prefix of local variable is _ or [a-z].
Instance variable: instance variable is available accross methods and object, meanwhile, instance variable change from object to object. Prefix of instance variable is @. Instance variable is not shared among its descedants.
Class variable: it belongs to a class and is a characteristic of this class. Prefix is @@. Class variable is share among its descedants(childs).
Global variable: class varaible is not across class, however, global variable does. The prefix of global variable is $.
Constant variable: it’s similar to class variable but it’s constant. Constant varaibles should be in upper case for all letters.

#2. Commenting

Using =begin and =end

=begin
This is a multiline comment and con spwan as many lines as you
like. But =begin and =end should come in the first line only.
=end

Using #

 # This is a single line comment.

#3. Method

def method_name (arg = default_value,arg2 = default_value2 )
    expression
end

#4. Block

Block must be named after a name of a method (or a function), other while, it does not work. Usage: In a method, there might be an chunk of code which is used many time within the method, the point is that, this chunk of code is not worth making a new function or maybe programmers don’t want to make a function on that chunk (they cannot think a name for that).

def function_name
   puts "In a function"
   yield
   puts "Come back to function"
end

function_name{
   puts "In a block"
}

It’s also possible to insert parameters into a block. However, if a function has parameters, I don’t know but there is a error and cannot use block with function which have parameters.

def function_name
   yield a, b
end
function_name {
   |a,b|
   puts a+b
}

#5. Class

Class structure

 #making a class
class Box
end

Initial method

class Box
 #`@` is a declare of instance varaibles
    def initialize(w,h)
	    @width = w
		@height = h
    end
end

Getters and setters

class Box
    @@number_of_box = 0
    def initialize(w,h)
	    @width = w
		@height = h
    end
    # These are getters
    def printWidth
	    @width
	end
    def printHeight
	    @height
    end
    #These are setters
	def setWidth=(new_value)
	    @width = new_value
	end
	def setHeight=(new_value)
	    @height = new_value
    end
	#usage of @@class variables
    def printNumberOfBox
	    puts @@number_of_box
	end
end

#6. Access control: Public, Private, Protected

Public method: is called by anyone. By default, all methods excepting initialize method are public methods.
Private method: only class methods can access private methods
Protected method: is called by class method and its subclass method.

private :functionA, :functionB
protected :functionD, :functionD

#7.Inheritance, method overriding, operator overloading

’<’ is used to indicate inheretent from class to class

class Box
end

class AutoBox < Box
end

Method overriding: change existing method (parent class) to new method (child class)

class Box
    def print
	    puts "base class"
    end
end

class AutoBox < Box
    def print
	    puts "child class"
    end
end

Method overloading: Unlike java, ruby is using dynamic typed language, as a results, it’s impossible to using overriding if depending on variable types. On the other hand, it uses number of parameters to differentiate methods.

def function_name(a,b) #there is no type declaring, compiler does not know
end                    #how to override

def function_name(a,b) #As a consequence, compiler uses number of parameters to
end                    #differentiate two methods

def function_name(a)
end

8. Loop

a. While loop

_counter = 0
while _counter < 5
  puts _counter
  _counter++
end

b. For loop

  # range is [0-5]
for counter in 0..5
  puts counter
end
  # range is [0-5)
for counter in 0...5
  puts counter
end

#9. Symbols a. What is this Symbols in ruby are immutable. Besides this point, it’s a string. It’s able to print put the value of a symbol in term of string or integer

:age #this is a symbol named age
puts :age # print out age's value in string
puts :age.object_id # print out age's object id

b. Implementation Automatic make new method based on the symbols

def make_me_a_setter(thename)
	eval <<-SETTERDONE
	def #{thename}(myarg)
		@#{thename} = myarg
	end
	SETTERDONE
end

class Example
	make_me_a_setter :symboll
	make_me_a_setter "stringg"

	def show_symboll
		puts @symboll
	end

	def show_stringg
		puts @stringg
	end
end

example = Example.new
example.symboll("ITS A SYMBOL")
example.stringg("ITS A STRING")
example.show_symboll
example.show_stringg
  # reference: http://www.troubleshooters.com/codecorn/ruby/symbols.htm

#10. Hash a. Declare a hash

Old hash

old_hash = {:var1 => "cat", :var2 => "dog"}

New hash

new_hash = {var1 : "cat", var2 : "dog"}

b. Access element

new_hash = {var1 : "cat", var2 : "dog"}
puts new_hash[:var1]
puts new_hash["var1"]

c. Documentation link

Hexa's Blog

Hexa's Blog

Ruby - learning

8. Loop