Ruby Programming/Writing methods
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[edit] Defining Methods
Methods are defined using the def keyword and ended with the end keyword. Some programmers find the Methods defined in Ruby very similar to those in Python.
def myMethod end
To define a method that takes in a value, you can put the local variable name in brackets after the method definition. The variable used can only be accessed from inside the method scope
def myMethod(msg) puts msg end
If multiple variables need to be used in the method, they can be separated with a comma.
def myMethod(msg, person)
puts "Hi, my name is " + person + ". Some information about myself: " + msg
end
Any object can be passed through using methods
def myMethod(myObject)
if(myObject.is_a?(Integer))
puts "Your Object is an Integer"
end
#Check to see if it defined as an Object that we created
#You will learn how to define Objects in a later section
if(myObject.is_a?(MyObject))
puts "Your Object is a MyObject"
end
end
The return keyword can be used to specify that you will be returning a value from the method defined
def myMethod
return "Hello"
end
It is also worth noting that ruby will return the last expression evaluated, so this is functionally equivalent to the previous method
def myMethod
"Hello"
end
Some of the Basic Operators can be overridden using the def keyword and the operator that you wish to override
def ==(oVal)
if oVal.is_a?(Integer)
#@value is a variable defined in the class where this method is defined
#This will be covered in a later section when dealing with Classes
if(oVal == @value)
return true
else
return false
end
end
end
