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Ruby Ruby Collections Build a Grocery List Program Build a Grocery List Program: Part 1

David Legault
David Legault
1,543 Points
Posted by David Legault
David Legault
1,543 Points

Parentheses in create_list()

Hy guys,

I dont understand why we use parentheses in create_list(). Same thing with add_list_item().

Thanks

2 Answers

bashburn
bashburn
7,611 Points
bashburn
bashburn
7,611 Points

The parenthesis does not need to be there since the method is defined with no arguments. In other languages, the empty parenthesis are necessary, but not in Ruby.

James Attree
James Attree
7,906 Points
James Attree
James Attree
7,906 Points

create_list() and add_list_item() are functions. The parenthesis are where functions accept parameters, and if a function has no parameters then the parenthesis are left empty.

They need to be there for the compiler to know they are functions. The compiler might get confused if you didn't put the parenthesis and it wouldn't know the difference between a function and a variable.