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Defining Methods

Defining Methods

0:00 with Jay McGavren

We've shown you how to call methods that Ruby defines for you. Now let's learn how to define your own methods.

  • Defining a method
    • def keyword
    • method name
    • method body: one or more lines of code that will be run when method is called
    • lines of method body are usually indented to make it clear they're a part of the method, although this isn't required
    • end keyword
def wait
  puts "Waiting..."
  sleep 3
  puts "Done"
end

def count_to_three
  puts 1
  puts 2
  puts 3
end
  • Valid method names
    • All lower case
    • Numbers are legal but rarely used
    • Separate words with underscores. This is called snake case because it makes the name look like it's crawling on the ground.
  • Call a method by typing its name in your code
count_to_three
wait
  • Can call a method as many times as we want
count_to_three
count_to_three

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