02 - Syntax | Ruby with Style

02 - Syntax

Use :: only to reference constants(this includes classes and modules) and constructors (like Array() or Nokogiri::HTML()). Do not use :: for regular method invocation.

# bad
SomeClass::some_method
some_object::some_method

# good
SomeClass.some_method
some_object.some_method
SomeModule::SomeClass::SOME_CONST
SomeModule::SomeClass()

Use def with parentheses when there are parameters. Omit the parentheses when the method doesn't accept any parameters.

 # bad
 def some_method()
   # body omitted
 end

 # good
 def some_method
   # body omitted
 end

 # bad
 def some_method_with_parameters param1, param2
   # body omitted
 end

 # good
 def some_method_with_parameters(param1, param2)
   # body omitted
 end

Define optional arguments at the end of the list of arguments. Ruby has some unexpected results when calling methods that have optional arguments at the front of the list.

# bad
def some_method(a = 1, b = 2, c, d)
  puts "#{a}, #{b}, #{c}, #{d}"
end

some_method('w', 'x') # => '1, 2, w, x'
some_method('w', 'x', 'y') # => 'w, 2, x, y'
some_method('w', 'x', 'y', 'z') # => 'w, x, y, z'

# good
def some_method(c, d, a = 1, b = 2)
  puts "#{a}, #{b}, #{c}, #{d}"
end

some_method('w', 'x') # => '1, 2, w, x'
some_method('w', 'x', 'y') # => 'y, 2, w, x'
some_method('w', 'x', 'y', 'z') # => 'y, z, w, x'

Avoid the use of parallel assignment for defining variables. Parallel assignment is allowed when it is the return of a method call, used with the splat operator, or when used to swap variable assignment. Parallel assignment is less readable than separate assignment.

# bad
a, b, c, d = 'foo', 'bar', 'baz', 'foobar'

# good
a = 'foo'
b = 'bar'
c = 'baz'
d = 'foobar'

# good - swapping variable assignment
# Swapping variable assignment is a special case because it will allow you to
# swap the values that are assigned to each variable.
a = 'foo'
b = 'bar'

a, b = b, a
puts a # => 'bar'
puts b # => 'foo'

# good - method return
def multi_return
  [1, 2]
end

first, second = multi_return

# good - use with splat
first, *list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

hello_array = *'Hello'

a = *(1..3)

Avoid the use of unnecessary trailing underscore variables during parallel assignment. Named underscore variables are to be preferred over underscore variables because of the context that they provide. Trailing underscore variables are necessary when there is a splat variable defined on the left side of the assignment, and the splat variable is not an underscore.

# bad
foo = 'one,two,three,four,five'
# Unnecessary assignment that does not provide useful information
first, second, _ = foo.split(',')
first, _, _ = foo.split(',')
first, *_ = foo.split(',')

# good
foo = 'one,two,three,four,five'
# The underscores is needed to show that you want all elements
# except for the last number of underscore elements
*beginning, _ = foo.split(',')
*beginning, something, _ = foo.split(',')

a, = foo.split(',')
a, b, = foo.split(',')
# Unnecessary assignment to an unused variable, but the assignment
# provides us with useful information.
first, _second = foo.split(',')
first, _second, = foo.split(',')
first, *_ending = foo.split(',')

Do not use for, unless you know exactly why. Most of the time iterators should be used instead. for is implemented in terms of each (so you're adding a level of indirection), but with a twist - for doesn't introduce a new scope (unlike each) and variables defined in its block will be visible outside it.
```
arr = [1, 2, 3]

# bad
for elem in arr do
  puts elem
end

# note that elem is accessible outside of the for loop
elem # => 3

# good
arr.each { |elem| puts elem }

# elem is not accessible outside each's block
elem # => NameError: undefined local variable or method `elem'
```

Do not use then for multi-line if/unless.

# bad
if some_condition then
  # body omitted
end

# good
if some_condition
  # body omitted
end

Always put the condition on the same line as the if/unless in a multi-line conditional.

# bad
if
  some_condition
  do_something
  do_something_else
end

# good
if some_condition
  do_something
  do_something_else
end

Favor the ternary operator(?:) over if/then/else/end constructs. It's more common and obviously more concise.

# bad
result = if some_condition then something else something_else end

# good
result = some_condition ? something : something_else

Use one expression per branch in a ternary operator. This also means that ternary operators must not be nested. Prefer if/else constructs in these cases.

# bad
some_condition ? (nested_condition ? nested_something : nested_something_else) : something_else

# good
if some_condition
  nested_condition ? nested_something : nested_something_else
else
  something_else
end

Do not use if x; .... Use the ternary operator instead.

# bad
result = if some_condition; something else something_else end

# good
result = some_condition ? something : something_else

Leverage the fact that if and case are expressions which return a result.

# bad
if condition
  result = x
else
  result = y
end

# good
result =
  if condition
    x
  else
    y
  end

Use when x then ... for one-line cases. The alternative syntax when x: ... has been removed as of Ruby 1.9.
Do not use when x; .... See the previous rule.

Use ! instead of not.

# bad - parentheses are required because of op precedence
x = (not something)

# good
x = !something

Avoid the use of !!.

# bad
x = 'test'
# obscure nil check
if !!x
  # body omitted
end

x = false
# double negation is useless on booleans
!!x # => false

# good
x = 'test'
unless x.nil?
  # body omitted
end

The and and or keywords are banned. It's just not worth it. Always use && and || instead.

# bad
# boolean expression
if some_condition and some_other_condition
  do_something
end

# control flow
document.saved? or document.save!

# good
# boolean expression
if some_condition && some_other_condition
  do_something
end

# control flow
document.saved? || document.save!

Avoid multi-line ?: (the ternary operator); use if/unless instead.

Favor modifier if/unless usage when you have a single-line body. Another good alternative is the usage of control flow &&/||.

# bad
if some_condition
  do_something
end

# good
do_something if some_condition

# another good option
some_condition && do_something

Avoid modifier if/unless usage at the end of a non-trivial multi-line block.

# bad
10.times do
  # multi-line body omitted
end if some_condition

# good
if some_condition
  10.times do
    # multi-line body omitted
  end
end

Avoid nested modifier if/unless/while/until usage. Favor &&/|| if appropriate.

# bad
do_something if other_condition if some_condition

# good
do_something if some_condition && other_condition

Favor unless over if for negative conditions (or control flow ||).

# bad
do_something if !some_condition

# bad
do_something if not some_condition

# good
do_something unless some_condition

# another good option
some_condition || do_something

Do not use unless with else. Rewrite these with the positive case first.

# bad
unless success?
  puts 'failure'
else
  puts 'success'
end

# good
if success?
  puts 'success'
else
  puts 'failure'
end

Don't use parentheses around the condition of an if/unless/while/until.

# bad
if (x > 10)
  # body omitted
end

# good
if x > 10
  # body omitted
end

Note that there is an exception to this rule, namely safe assignment in condition.

Do not use while/until condition do for multi-line while/until.

# bad
while x > 5 do
  # body omitted
end

until x > 5 do
  # body omitted
end

# good
while x > 5
  # body omitted
end

until x > 5
  # body omitted
end

Favor modifier while/until usage when you have a single-line body.

# bad
while some_condition
  do_something
end

# good
do_something while some_condition

Favor until over while for negative conditions.

# bad
do_something while !some_condition

# good
do_something until some_condition

Use Kernel#loop instead of while/until when you need an infinite loop.

  # bad
  while true
    do_something
  end

  until false
    do_something
  end

  # good
  loop do
    do_something
  end

Use Kernel#loop with break rather than begin/end/until or begin/end/while for post-loop tests.

# bad
begin
  puts val
  val += 1
end while val < 0

# good
loop do
  puts val
  val += 1
  break unless val < 0
end

Omit parentheses around parameters for methods that are part of an internal DSL (e.g. Rake, Rails, RSpec), methods that have "keyword" status in Ruby (e.g. attr_reader, puts) and attribute access methods. Use parentheses around the arguments of all other method invocations.

class Person
  # bad
  attr_reader(:name, :age)
  # good
  attr_reader :name, :age

  # body omitted
end

# bad
temperance = Person.new 'Temperance', 30
# good
temperance = Person.new('Temperance', 30)

# bad
puts(temperance.age)
# good
puts temperance.age

# bad
x = Math.sin y
# good
x = Math.sin(y)

# bad
array.delete e
# good
array.delete(e)

# bad
expect(bowling.score).to eq 0
# good
expect(bowling.score).to eq(0)

Omit the outer braces around an implicit options hash.

# bad
user.set({ name: 'John', age: 45, permissions: { read: true } })

# good
user.set(name: 'John', age: 45, permissions: { read: true })

Omit both the outer braces and parentheses for methods that are part of an internal DSL.

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  # bad
  validates(:name, { presence: true, length: { within: 1..10 } })

  # good
  validates :name, presence: true, length: { within: 1..10 }
end

Omit parentheses for method calls with no arguments.

# bad
Kernel.exit!()
2.even?()
fork()
'test'.upcase()

# good
Kernel.exit!
2.even?
fork
'test'.upcase

Use the proc invocation shorthand when the invoked method is the only operation of a block.
```
# bad
names.map { |name| name.upcase }

# good
names.map(&:upcase)
```
Prefer {...} over do...end for single-line blocks. Avoid using {...} for multi-line blocks (multiline chaining is always ugly). Always use do...end for "control flow" and "method definitions" (e.g. in Rakefiles and certain DSLs). Avoid do...end when chaining.
```
names = %w(Bozhidar Steve Sarah)

# bad
names.each do |name|
  puts name
end

# good
names.each { |name| puts name }

# bad
names.select do |name|
  name.start_with?('S')
end.map { |name| name.upcase }

# good
names.select { |name| name.start_with?('S') }.map(&:upcase)
```
Some will argue that multiline chaining would look OK with the use of {...}, but they should ask themselves - is this code really readable and can the blocks' contents be extracted into nifty methods?

Consider using explicit block argument to avoid writing block literal that just passes its arguments to another block. Beware of the performance impact, though, as the block gets converted to a Proc.

require 'tempfile'

# bad
def with_tmp_dir
  Dir.mktmpdir do |tmp_dir|
    Dir.chdir(tmp_dir) { |dir| yield dir }  # block just passes arguments
  end
end

# good
def with_tmp_dir(&block)
  Dir.mktmpdir do |tmp_dir|
    Dir.chdir(tmp_dir, &block)
  end
end

with_tmp_dir do |dir|
  puts "dir is accessible as a parameter and pwd is set: #{dir}"
end

Avoid return where not required for flow of control.

# bad
def some_method(some_arr)
  return some_arr.size
end

# good
def some_method(some_arr)
  some_arr.size
end

Avoid self where not required. (It is only required when calling a self write accessor.)

# bad
def ready?
  if self.last_reviewed_at > self.last_updated_at
    self.worker.update(self.content, self.options)
    self.status = :in_progress
  end
  self.status == :verified
end

# good
def ready?
  if last_reviewed_at > last_updated_at
    worker.update(content, options)
    self.status = :in_progress
  end
  status == :verified
end

As a corollary, avoid shadowing methods with local variables unless they are both equivalent.

class Foo
  attr_accessor :options

  # ok
  def initialize(options)
    self.options = options
    # both options and self.options are equivalent here
  end

  # bad
  def do_something(options = {})
    unless options[:when] == :later
      output(self.options[:message])
    end
  end

  # good
  def do_something(params = {})
    unless params[:when] == :later
      output(options[:message])
    end
  end
end

Don't use the return value of = (an assignment) in conditional expressions unless the assignment is wrapped in parentheses. This is a fairly popular idiom among Rubyists that's sometimes referred to as safe assignment in condition.

# bad (+ a warning)
if v = array.grep(/foo/)
  do_something(v)
  # some code
end

# good (MRI would still complain, but RuboCop won't)
if (v = array.grep(/foo/))
  do_something(v)
  # some code
end

# good
v = array.grep(/foo/)
if v
  do_something(v)
  # some code
end

Use shorthand self assignment operators whenever applicable.

# bad
x = x + y
x = x * y
x = x**y
x = x / y
x = x || y
x = x && y

# good
x += y
x *= y
x **= y
x /= y
x ||= y
x &&= y

Use ||= to initialize variables only if they're not already initialized.

# bad
name = name ? name : 'Bozhidar'

# bad
name = 'Bozhidar' unless name

# good - set name to 'Bozhidar', only if it's nil or false
name ||= 'Bozhidar'

Don't use ||= to initialize boolean variables. (Consider what would happen if the current value happened to be false.)

# bad - would set enabled to true even if it was false
enabled ||= true

# good
enabled = true if enabled.nil?

Use &&= to preprocess variables that may or may not exist. Using &&= will change the value only if it exists, removing the need to check its existence with if.

# bad
if something
  something = something.downcase
end

# bad
something = something ? something.downcase : nil

# ok
something = something.downcase if something

# good
something = something && something.downcase

# better
something &&= something.downcase

Avoid explicit use of the case equality operator ===. As its name implies it is meant to be used implicitly by case expressions and outside of them it yields some pretty confusing code.
```
# bad
Array === something
(1..100) === 7
/something/ === some_string

# good
something.is_a?(Array)
(1..100).include?(7)
some_string =~ /something/
```

Do not use eql? when using == will do. The stricter comparison semantics provided by eql? are rarely needed in practice.

# bad - eql? is the same as == for strings
'ruby'.eql? some_str

# good
'ruby' == some_str
1.0.eql? x # eql? makes sense here if want to differentiate between Fixnum and Float 1

Avoid using Perl-style special variables (like $:, $;, etc. ). They are quite cryptic and their use in anything but one-liner scripts is discouraged. Use the human-friendly aliases provided by the English library.
```
# bad
$:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__)

# good
require 'English'
$LOAD_PATH.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__)
```
Do not put a space between a method name and the opening parenthesis.
```
# bad
f (3 + 2) + 1

# good
f(3 + 2) + 1
```
If the first argument to a method begins with an open parenthesis, always use parentheses in the method invocation. For example, write f((3 + 2) + 1).
Always run the Ruby interpreter with the -w option so it will warn you if you forget either of the rules above!

Do not use nested method definitions, use lambda instead. Nested method definitions actually produce methods in the same scope (e.g. class) as the outer method. Furthermore, the "nested method" will be redefined every time the method containing its definition is invoked.

# bad
def foo(x)
  def bar(y)
    # body omitted
  end

  bar(x)
end

# good - the same as the previous, but no bar redefinition on every foo call
def bar(y)
  # body omitted
end

def foo(x)
  bar(x)
end

# also good
def foo(x)
  bar = ->(y) { ... }
  bar.call(x)
end

Use the new lambda literal syntax for single line body blocks. Use the lambda method for multi-line blocks.

# bad
l = lambda { |a, b| a + b }
l.call(1, 2)

# correct, but looks extremely awkward
l = ->(a, b) do
  tmp = a * 7
  tmp * b / 50
end

# good
l = ->(a, b) { a + b }
l.call(1, 2)

l = lambda do |a, b|
  tmp = a * 7
  tmp * b / 50
end

Don't omit the parameter parentheses when defining a stabby lambda with parameters.

# bad
l = ->x, y { something(x, y) }

# good
l = ->(x, y) { something(x, y) }

Omit the parameter parentheses when defining a stabby lambda with no parameters.
```
# bad
l = ->() { something }

# good
l = -> { something }
```

Prefer proc over Proc.new.

# bad
p = Proc.new { |n| puts n }

# good
p = proc { |n| puts n }

Prefer proc.call() over proc[] or proc.() for both lambdas and procs.

# bad - looks similar to Enumeration access
l = ->(v) { puts v }
l[1]

# also bad - uncommon syntax
l = ->(v) { puts v }
l.(1)

# good
l = ->(v) { puts v }
l.call(1)

Prefix with _ unused block parameters and local variables. It's also acceptable to use just _ (although it's a bit less descriptive). This convention is recognized by the Ruby interpreter and tools like RuboCop and will suppress their unused variable warnings.

# bad
result = hash.map { |k, v| v + 1 }

def something(x)
  unused_var, used_var = something_else(x)
  # some code
end

# good
result = hash.map { |_k, v| v + 1 }

def something(x)
  _unused_var, used_var = something_else(x)
  # some code
end

# good
result = hash.map { |_, v| v + 1 }

def something(x)
  _, used_var = something_else(x)
  # some code
end

Use $stdout/$stderr/$stdin instead of STDOUT/STDERR/STDIN. STDOUT/STDERR/STDIN are constants, and while you can actually reassign (possibly to redirect some stream) constants in Ruby, you'll get an interpreter warning if you do so.
Use warn instead of $stderr.puts. Apart from being more concise and clear, warn allows you to suppress warnings if you need to (by setting the warn level to 0 via -W0).

Favor the use of sprintf and its alias format over the fairly cryptic String#% method.

# bad
'%d %d' % [20, 10]
# => '20 10'

# good
sprintf('%d %d', 20, 10)
# => '20 10'

# good
sprintf('%{first} %{second}', first: 20, second: 10)
# => '20 10'

format('%d %d', 20, 10)
# => '20 10'

# good
format('%{first} %{second}', first: 20, second: 10)
# => '20 10'

Favor the use of Array#join over the fairly cryptic Array#* with a string argument.

# bad
%w(one two three) * ', '
# => 'one, two, three'

# good
%w(one two three).join(', ')
# => 'one, two, three'

Use [*var] or Array() instead of explicit Array check, when dealing with a variable you want to treat as an Array, but you're not certain it's an array.

# bad
paths = [paths] unless paths.is_a? Array
paths.each { |path| do_something(path) }

# good
[*paths].each { |path| do_something(path) }

# good (and a bit more readable)
Array(paths).each { |path| do_something(path) }

Use ranges or Comparable#between? instead of complex comparison logic when possible.

# bad
do_something if x >= 1000 && x <= 2000

# good
do_something if (1000..2000).include?(x)

# good
do_something if x.between?(1000, 2000)

Favor the use of predicate methods to explicit comparisons with ==. Numeric comparisons are OK.

# bad
if x % 2 == 0
end

if x % 2 == 1
end

if x == nil
end

# good
if x.even?
end

if x.odd?
end

if x.nil?
end

if x.zero?
end

if x == 0
end

Don't do explicit non-nil checks unless you're dealing with boolean values.

  # bad
  do_something if !something.nil?
  do_something if something != nil

  # good
  do_something if something

  # good - dealing with a boolean
  def value_set?
    !@some_boolean.nil?
  end

Avoid the use of BEGIN blocks.

Do not use END blocks. Use Kernel#at_exit instead.

# bad
END { puts 'Goodbye!' }

# good
at_exit { puts 'Goodbye!' }

Avoid the use of flip-flops.

Avoid use of nested conditionals for flow of control.

Prefer a guard clause when you can assert invalid data. A guard clause is a conditional statement at the top of a function that bails out as soon as it can.

# bad
def compute_thing(thing)
  if thing[:foo]
    update_with_bar(thing)
    if thing[:foo][:bar]
      partial_compute(thing)
    else
      re_compute(thing)
    end
  end
end

# good
def compute_thing(thing)
  return unless thing[:foo]
  update_with_bar(thing[:foo])
  return re_compute(thing) unless thing[:foo][:bar]
  partial_compute(thing)
end

Prefer next in loops instead of conditional blocks.

# bad
[0, 1, 2, 3].each do |item|
  if item > 1
    puts item
  end
end

# good
[0, 1, 2, 3].each do |item|
  next unless item > 1
  puts item
end

Prefer map over collect, find over detect, select over find_all, reduce over inject and size over length. This is not a hard requirement; if the use of the alias enhances readability, it's ok to use it. The rhyming methods are inherited from Smalltalk and are not common in other programming languages. The reason the use of select is encouraged over find_all is that it goes together nicely with reject and its name is pretty self-explanatory.
Don't use count as a substitute for size. For Enumerable objects other than Array it will iterate the entire collection in order to determine its size.
```
# bad
some_hash.count

# good
some_hash.size
```
Use flat_map instead of map + flatten. This does not apply for arrays with a depth greater than 2, i.e. if users.first.songs == ['a', ['b','c']], then use map + flatten rather than flat_map. flat_map flattens the array by 1, whereas flatten flattens it all the way.
```
# bad
all_songs = users.map(&:songs).flatten.uniq

# good
all_songs = users.flat_map(&:songs).uniq
```
Prefer reverse_each to reverse.each because some classes that include Enumerable will provide an efficient implementation. Even in the worst case where a class does not provide a specialized implementation, the general implementation inherited from Enumerable will be at least as efficient as using reverse.each.
```
# bad
array.reverse.each { ... }

# good
array.reverse_each { ... }
```