[Ruby-tip] Enums... sort of

[wtd]

code:

def enum(*args)    args.each_with_index do |arg, index|       Object.const_set(arg, index)    end end enum :Sunday, :Monday, :Tuesday, :Wednesday, :Thursday, :Friday, :Saturday

[Tony]

you might have to explain what enums are and what they are used for

[wtd]

An enum, at the most basic level is a way of assigning sequential integers to a series of names.

By writing:

code:

enum :Sunday, :Monday, :Tuesday, :Wednesday, :Thursday, :Friday, :Saturday

I'm saying that Sunday is zero, Monday is one, and so on until Saturday is six.

It can be useful to use this style rather than hard-coded numbers. Doing so makes your intent more clear, without having to resort to comments.

[JHanson90]

wtd wrote:

... Doing so makes your intent more clear, without having to resort to comments.

Personally, I think that comments can still help someone analyzing your code. I do not like finding ways to escape comments; no matter how clear the code may be, especially if you're writing in a more complicated language than Ruby. But do you agree? Or should I stop using 20% of my programming time writing a novel in my code...

[Tony]

ruby is not a complicated language. It is very preaty and nice to read

though if I know that my code will be read (such as my assignments), I actually enjoy writing short humorous comments next to key points (such as function declarations and if statements)

[JHanson90]

tony wrote:

ruby is not a complicated language. It is very preaty and nice to read

Sorry if what I said was unclear; what I was saying that in the case of Ruby comments are not needed as much, but in a more complicated language I would use more comments.

[wtd]

Ok, a case where "enums" would make Ruby clearer...

We have an array of 7 strings. Each describes some event that will be occurring on that day of the week. Obviously there are better, more object-orented ways of doing this, but this is a simple example.

Events are inspired by Gary Larson's "Jurassic Calendars".

code:

events = ["Kill something and eat it", "Kill something and eat it", "Digest", "Kill something and eat it", "Sleep", "Kill something and eat it", "Digest"] wednesday_event = events[3] # 3 corresponds to the day Wednesday

Or...

code:

def enum(*args)    args.each_with_index do |arg, index|       Object.const_set(arg, index)    end end enum :Sunday, :Monday, :Tuesday, :Wednesday, :Thursday, :Friday, :Saturday events = ["Kill something and eat it", "Kill something and eat it", "Digest", "Kill something and eat it", "Sleep", "Kill something and eat it", "Digest"] wednesday_event = events[Wednesday]