2024-12-22-paradox-of-choice.md

Paradox of Choice in Ruby

| ruby |

The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less - is it applicable to programming languages?

I've been using simple (in terms of syntax) languages (Python, Go) for some time and have an understanding of why such fancy, flexible language as Ruby has sort of "irritation" from some software engineers.

Please note, that I am talking about language only, avoiding ecosystem, Rails, and so on.

Ruby is too flexible. It has too many ways of doing the same things using different methods. I want to concentrate on simple code, which I can read and understand quickly. Yes, I want to see elegant code as well, but today it's more important for me to follow a "less is more" approach, with few possible variations.

From my perspective, Ruby aligns more closely with Perl than with Python. I don't understand why they haven't deprecated some legacy in Ruby. It would make the language cleaner and remove ambiguity.

On the other hand, Ruby on Rails follows the "Less is More" principle, exemplified by its Convention over Configuration approach. This principle was a key factor in the framework's early success.

Samples of "More is More" in Ruby language

I decided to collect basic samples of doing the same/similar things in Ruby, ignoring meta-programming. It's not exhaustive list of "questionable" features. I am too lazy to write really long post, but it should give you of a feeling of what I mean.

Loading Code

• require: Loads a library or file once. Commonly used for loading gems or external libraries.
• require_relative: Similar to require, but resolves file paths relative to the file making the call.
• load: Loads and re-evaluates the code in a file every time it’s called.
• autoload: Registers the given file to be loaded when the given constant is first referenced.

Mixing In Modules

• include: Mixes module methods as instance methods into a class.
• extend: Adds module methods as class methods or singleton methods.
• prepend: Similar to include, but methods are added to the top of the method lookup chain, overriding existing methods.

Array

array = [1, 2, 3, 4]

Using %w for Strings

To create an array of strings without quotes and commas:

array = %w[apple banana cherry]
# => ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

For strings with interpolation or escape sequences, use %W:

name = "John"
array = %W[hello #{name} world]
# => ["hello", "John", "world"]

Using %i for Symbols

To create an array of symbols:

array = %i[one two three]
# => [:one, :two, :three]

Using Array() Method

The Array() method can convert other types to arrays.

array = Array(1..5)
# => [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

String

Alternative to single ' and double-quote " delimiters

Ruby provides an alternative to single and double-quote delimiters, which comes in handy sometimes when the string you want to quote contains the delimiter you need.

You can use various delimiters with %Q. The most common are [ ], { }, ( ), | |, or / /. The opening and closing delimiters must match.

%q/general single-quoted string/  # => general single-quoted string
%Q!general double-quoted string!  # => general double-quoted string
%Q{Seconds/day: #{24*60*60}}      # => Seconds/day: 86400
%!general double-quoted string!   # => general double-quoted string
%{Seconds/day: #{24*60*60}}       # => Seconds/day: 86400

Here document (or heredoc)

A heredoc allows you to build a multi-line string.

string = <<END_OF_STRING
  The body of the string is the input lines up to
  one starting with the same text that followed the '<<'
END_OF_STRING

string = <<-END_OF_STRING
The body of the string is the input lines up to
one starting with the same text that followed the '<<'
  END_OF_STRING

And if you put a tilde after the << characters you can indent the text.

def a_long_string
  <<~END_OF_STRING
      Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than
      a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single
      bound—look, up there in the sky, it's a bird, it's a
      plane, it's Superman!
  END_OF_STRING
end
puts a_long_string 

You can also have multiple here documents on a single line

print <<-STRING1, <<-STRING2
  Concat
        STRING1
  enate
  STRING2

# produces:
# Concat
# enate

Hash

{ :one => "eins", :two => "zwei", :three => "drei" }

Using this syntax we tell Ruby that we want the keys to be symbols.

{ one: "eins", two: "zwei", three: "drei" }

Conditional Statements if vs unless

Executes code if the condition is false.

unless x >= 0
  puts "x is negative"
else
  puts "x is non-negative"
end

puts "x is negative" unless x >= 0

Loops

loop

i = 1

loop do
  puts "Message number #{i}"

  i = i + 1
  if i == 6
    break
  end
end

while

i = 1

while i <= 5 do
  puts "Message number #{i}"
  i = i + 1
end

for

for i in 1..5 do
  puts "Message number #{i}"
end

until

i = 1

until i == 6 do
  puts "Message number #{i}"
  i = i + 1
end

begin ... end block

print "Hello\n" while false
begin
  print "Goodbye\n"
end while false

# produces:
# Goodbye 

Aliases

length / size: Return the number of elements in the array

arr = [1, 2, 3]
arr.length  # => 3
arr.size    # => 3

map / collect: Create a new array by applying a block to each element

arr = [1, 2, 3]
arr.map { |x| x * 2 }       # => [2, 4, 6]
arr.collect { |x| x * 2 }   # => [2, 4, 6]

reduce / inject: Combine all elements of the array by applying a binary operation

arr = [1, 2, 3]
arr.reduce(:+)    # => 6
arr.inject(:+)    # => 6

find / detect: Return the first element that satisfies the block

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]
arr.find { |x| x > 2 }     # => 3
arr.detect { |x| x > 2 }   # => 3

select / find_all / filter: Return all elements that satisfy the block

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]
arr.select { |x| x.even? }       # => [2, 4]
arr.find_all { |x| x.even? }     # => [2, 4]

key? / has_key?: Check if a key exists in the hash

hash = { a: 1, b: 2 }
hash.key?(:a)       # => true
hash.has_key?(:a)   # => true

reject / delete_if: Return elements that do not satisfy the block

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]
arr.reject { |x| x.even? }    # => [1, 3]
arr.delete_if { |x| x.even? } # => [1, 3]

exists? / exist?: Check if a file exists

File.exists?("file.txt")  # => true or false
File.exist?("file.txt")   # => true or false

size / size?

• size: Returns the size of the file in bytes.
• size?: Returns the size if the file is non-empty; otherwise, returns nil.

File.size("file.txt")  # => 1024
File.size?("file.txt") # => 1024 or nil

There are more similar cases, but you've got what I mean 😉, right?