Tips for writing clean and concise Ruby code
Ruby is an elegant programming language. The syntax is simple and easy to read. However, as with every other programming language, there are better ways of writing the same code. Writing verbose code as opposed to concise and clean code can take the shine out of the beautiful language.
The following are some tips on how to write clean and concise Ruby code.
Tip Number 1: Use map instead of each to generate an array of values
# verbose
users_arr = []
users.each do |user|
users_arr << { name: user.name }
end
# concise
users_arr = users.map { |user| { name: user.name } }
Tip Number 2: Use single variable initialization on value presence check
# verbose
country = some_country_method() # returns a country object
if country.present?
country_code = country.iso
else
country_code = "gh"
end
# concise - for this to work the default value (when there is no value) must be nil
country_code = if country = some_country_method()
country.iso
else
"gh"
end
Tip Number 3: Use concise rescue
# verbose
def valid_id?
begin
data = JSON.parse("some json string that could be invalid")
data.key?("id")
rescue JSON::ParserError
false
end
end
# concise
def valid_id?
data = JSON.parse("some json string that could be invalid")
data.key?("id")
rescue JSON::ParserError
false
end
Tip Number 4: Use the single splat operator to destructure an array of exception objects
# less clean
def valid_data?
data = JSON.parse(open("some url").read).with_indifferent_access
User.create!(data: data)
true
rescue JSON::ParserError, Errno::ENOENT, ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid, OpenURI::HTTPError, OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError
false
end
# cleaner
BAD_DATA_EXCEPTIONS = [
Errno::ENOENT,
JSON::ParserError,
OpenURI::HTTPError,
OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError,
ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid,
].freeze
def valid_data?
data = JSON.parse(open("some url").read).with_indifferent_access
User.create!(data: data)
true
rescue *BAD_DATA_EXCEPTIONS
false
end
Tip Number 5: Use except instead of select to filter unwanted Hash keys
# verbose
hash.select { |k, _| k != "unwanted_key" }
# concise
hash.except(:unwanted_key)
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