Enumerable Methods Every Ruby Developer Should Know

As a Ruby developer, understanding and utilizing enumerable methods is crucial for writing clean and efficient code. Enumerable methods allow you to iterate over collections and perform operations on each element without having to write repetitive loops. In this article, we will cover some of the most commonly used enumerable methods that every Ruby developer should be familiar with.

1. each

The each method is one of the most basic enumerable methods in Ruby. It allows you to iterate over each element in a collection and perform a specific action on each element. Here's an example:


numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
numbers.each do |number|
  puts number
end

This will output each number in the numbers array on a new line.

2. map

The map method is used to transform each element in a collection based on a given block of code. It returns a new array with the transformed elements. Here's an example:


numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared_numbers = numbers.map { |number| number ** 2 }
puts squared_numbers

This will output [1, 4, 9, 16, 25], which are the squared numbers of the original array.

3. select

The select method is used to filter elements in a collection based on a given condition. It returns a new array containing only the elements that meet the condition. Here's an example:


numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
even_numbers = numbers.select { |number| number.even? }
puts even_numbers

This will output [2, 4], which are the even numbers in the original array.

4. reduce

The reduce method is used to combine all elements in a collection into a single value based on a given operation. It takes an initial value and a block of code as arguments. Here's an example:


numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
sum = numbers.reduce(0) { |total, number| total + number }
puts sum

This will output 15, which is the sum of all numbers in the original array.

5. sort

The sort method is used to sort elements in a collection based on their natural order or a custom comparison. It returns a new array with the sorted elements. Here's an example:


numbers = [5, 3, 1, 4, 2]
sorted_numbers = numbers.sort
puts sorted_numbers

This will output [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], which are the numbers sorted in ascending order.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the enumerable methods that every Ruby developer should know. By mastering these methods, you can write more concise and readable code while taking advantage of the powerful features that Ruby has to offer. Experiment with these methods in your own projects to see how they can improve your development workflow.