Method Calls

• super
• Iterators
• yield

Example:

foo.bar()
foo.bar
bar()
print "hello world\n"
print

Syntax:

[expr '.'] identifier ['(' expr ... ['*' [expr]] ')']

Method calls invoke the method of the receiver (the value of the expression to the left of the dot). If no receiver is specified, calls the method of self.

Method names can be normal identifiers or identifiers followed by the character ? or !. Customarily, ? is used for predicates (methods returning true/false values), while ! is used for methods that are more destructive than their !-less counterparts (tr versus tr!).

If the last argument is preceded by *, the value of that expression is expanded to its arguments:

foo(*[1,2,3])   # same as foo(1,2,3)

super

Example:

super
super(1,2,3)

Syntax:

super
super(expr , ... )

super calls the method that is being overridden by the current method. If the parentheses and arguments are omitted, the current method's arguments are passed to super as is. To call the overridden method without passing any arguments, indicate the parentheses as in super().

class Foo
  def foo(arg=nil)
    p arg
  end
end

class Bar < Foo
  def foo(arg)
    super(5)       # called with 5 as an argument
    super(arg)     # called with 5 as an argument
    super          # called with 5 as an argument; abbreviation of super(arg)
    arg = 1
    super          # called with 1 as an argument; abbreviation of super(arg)
    super()        # called with no argument
  end
end
Bar.new.foo 5

Iterators

Example:

[1,2,3].each do |i| print i*2, "\n" end
[1,2,3].each {|i| print i*2, "\n" }

Syntax:

method(arg1, arg2, ...)  do ['|' expr ... '|'] expr ... end
method(arg1, arg2, ...) '{' ['|' expr ... '|'] expr ... '}'

Iterators are methods used for abstracting control structures (especially loops). If you call a method that is followed by a code segment enclosed by do ... end or by { ... } (called a block), the method can evaluate the block from within. Methods that call these kinds of blocks are called iterators. Block calls from iterators use yield. The value passed to yield is assigned to the variable between the two pipes ( | ).

{ ... } binds more strongly than a do ... end block.

foobar a, b do .. end   # foobar is called as an iterator
foobar a, b { .. }      # b is called as an iterator

Local variables that are first assigned (declared) in a block are only valid within that block.

foobar {
  i = 20                # local variable 'i' is declared
   ...
}
                        # 'i' is undefined here
foobar a, b do
  i = 11                # declaration of a totally different variable 'i'
   ...
end

Like most methods, an iterator's return value is nil if it is interrupted by break from within a block. When break has an argument, that value will become the iterator's return value.

yield

Example:

yield data

Syntax:

yield '(' [ expr [',' expr ... ]] ')'
yield [ expr [',' expr ... ]]

Passes the argument(s) as the block's argument(s) and evaluates the block. yield is used within MethodDefinition to define iterators.

def foo
  yield(1,2)
end

foo {|a,b| p [a,b]}

Assignment of the block argument(s) is carried out according to the rules of multiple assignment. If no block is supplied to the method that executed yield (i.e., it is not an iterator), throws a LocalJumpError exception.

yield returns the result of the block's last evaluated expression. If block execution has been interrupted by next, returns nil. When next has an argument, that value will become yield's return value.