This is a continuation of my effort to get through all of the Ruby Kōans.
[sourcecode language=”ruby”]
def test_creating_arrays
empty_array = Array.new
assert_equal Array, empty_array.class
assert_equal 0, empty_array.size
end
[/sourcecode]
Creating a new array, just use Array.net. That I like. 🙂 Next assert verifies that the class is an Array. The third assert verifies that we have an empty array. That works, very logical, very array like.
[sourcecode language=”ruby”]
def test_array_literals
array = Array.new
assert_equal [], array
array[0] = 1
assert_equal [1], array
array[1] = 2
assert_equal [1, 2], array
array << 333
assert_equal [1, 2, 333] array
end
[/sourcecode]
array[0] makes sense, seems par for the course. Now << operator putting the value of 333 into the array in the next available position. I’m a fan. 😀
[sourcecode language=”ruby”]
def test_accessing_array_elements
array = [:peanut, :butter, :and, :jelly]
assert_equal :peanut, array[0]
assert_equal :peanut, array.first
assert_equal :jelly, array[3]
assert_equal :jelly, array.last
assert_equal :jelly, array[-1]
assert_equal :butter, array[-3]
end
[/sourcecode]
Ok, this is somewhat understandable. The peanut (with the colon? why is the colon included?) is the first value. Cool. That makes sense. The zero is actually the first part of the array, which matches well to array.first, still making sense. The jelly value is in the 3rd, or last location and I’m good with that. Now it gets weird, where is -1? I suppose it is jelly since that test now asserts true. Negative 3 is butter though, which I guess negative values just start from the end. Does that make sense? Either way, it appears to be working that way.
NOTE: This is a a great scenario, to me, and maybe for others, when taking notes pays off. It doesn’t matter if you’re studying for a test or not. I didn’t quit realize what was happening here until I wrote a note, simply explaining it back to myself. Even if you think you get something, writing it down and forcing yourself to think it through is a proven method to putting something to memory.
[sourcecode language=”ruby”]
def test_slicing_arrays
array = [:peanut, :butter, :and, :jelly]
assert_equal [:peanut], array[0,1]
assert_equal [:peanut, :butter], array[0,2]
assert_equal [:and, :jelly], array[2,2]
assert_equal [:and, :jelly], array[2,20]
assert_equal [], array[4,0]
assert_equal [], array[4,100]
assert_equal nil, array[5,0]
end
[/sourcecode]
Basically the array is saying, give me one item based on the index of 0. The second assert is starting at index 0 and providing the next two array elements. The same thing then happens for the next two. Of course, starting at index 2 and getting the next 20 values just gets the available values. I can cope with that. The next two asserts then return no value, as there is no 4th array position (remember, it starts at zero.) The last item asks for no items from the array, thus nil is returned.
Well, that’s it for now. More to come in the near future.
