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Ruby Ruby Blocks Ruby Blocks Block Arguments

Dylan Barnard
Dylan Barnard
1,860 Points
Posted by Dylan Barnard
Dylan Barnard
1,860 Points

We don't need a block argument here?

I think the example in this video might be too simplistic, because we actually don't need a lot of the code the instructor is using to get the program to run. Here is my code snippet which is missing several components but still runs: 1) the block argument - |name| 2) yield name

def get_name
  puts "Enter your name"
  name = gets.chomp 
end

get_name do 
  puts "That's a cool name, #{name}"
end

Can anyone give an example where you actually need block arguments and yield to get a more complex piece of code to run?

2 Answers

Rodrigo Castro
Rodrigo Castro
15,652 Points
Rodrigo Castro
Rodrigo Castro
15,652 Points

Hi Dylan,

I tried to run this piece code, and what I noticed is that the code runs because here

get_name do puts "That's a cool name, #{name}" end

the program simply calls the method, which just asks for the user input, however, if you want to print the string inside the block you actually have to use the yield, which would call the block and require the 'name' parameter, otherwise it would display an error.

Gustavo Zimmermann
Gustavo Zimmermann
6,857 Points
Gustavo Zimmermann
Gustavo Zimmermann
6,857 Points

bear in mind, that block arguments is a tool, you can use it, or you can find other means to do a job, so its hard to say that you need to use it. So better than a code example is to think what kind of problem can be solved using that tool. And the example that i give you is: imagine you are creating a class that work in all the files in a given directory, Its a generic class, and you will use in several different programs. You want to be able to show the progress of the work, but that is not your business, you dont even know witch program will be running, so you give the chance to who ever call you to show the progress yielding to a block that will know how to show things to the user. did this answer your question?