Syntax
- Syntax

Syntax

Never use for, unless you know exactly why. Most of the
time iterators should be used instead. for is implemented in terms of
each (so you’re adding a level of indirection), but with a twist - for
doesn’t introduce a new scope (unlike each) and variables defined in its
block will be visible outside it.[link]

  arr = [1, 2, 3]

  # bad
  for elem in arr do
    puts elem
  end

  # good
  arr.each { |elem| puts elem }

Prefer {...} over do...end for
single-line blocks. Avoid using {...} for multi-line blocks (multiline
chaining is always ugly). Always use do...end for “control flow” and
“method definitions” (e.g. in Rakefiles and certain DSLs). Avoid do...end
when chaining.[link]

  names = ["Bozhidar", "Steve", "Sarah"]

  # good
  names.each { |name| puts name }

  # bad
  names.each do |name| puts name end

  # good
  names.each do |name|
    puts name
    puts 'yay!'
  end

  # bad
  names.each { |name|
    puts name
    puts 'yay!'
  }

  # good
  names.select { |name| name.start_with?("S") }.map { |name| name.upcase }

  # bad
  names.select do |name|
    name.start_with?("S")
  end.map { |name| name.upcase }

Some will argue that multiline chaining would look okay with the use of
{...}, but they should ask themselves if this code is really readable and
whether the block’s content can be extracted into nifty methods.

Use shorthand self assignment operators
whenever applicable.[link]

  # bad
  x = x + y
  x = x * y
  x = x**y
  x = x / y
  x = x || y
  x = x && y

  # good
  x += y
  x *= y
  x **= y
  x /= y
  x ||= y
  x &&= y

Avoid semicolons except for in single line class
definitions. When it is appropriate to use a semicolon, it should be
directly adjacent to the statement it terminates: there should be no
space before the semicolon.[link]

  # bad
  puts 'foobar'; # superfluous semicolon
  puts 'foo'; puts 'bar' # two expressions on the same line

  # good
  puts 'foobar'

  puts 'foo'
  puts 'bar'

  puts 'foo', 'bar' # this applies to puts in particular

Use :: only to reference constants(this includes
classes and modules) and constructors (like Array() or Nokogiri::HTML()).
Do not use :: for regular method invocation.[link]

  # bad
  SomeClass::some_method
  some_object::some_method

  # good
  SomeClass.some_method
  some_object.some_method
  SomeModule::SomeClass::SOME_CONST
  SomeModule::SomeClass()

Avoid return where not required.
[link]

  # bad
  def some_method(some_arr)
    return some_arr.size
  end

  # good
  def some_method(some_arr)
    some_arr.size
  end

Don’t use the return value of = in
conditionals[link]

  # bad - shows intended use of assignment
  if (v = array.grep(/foo/))
    ...
  end

  # bad
  if v = array.grep(/foo/)
    ...
  end

  # good
  v = array.grep(/foo/)
  if v
    ...
  end

Use ||= freely to initialize variables.
[link]

  # set name to Bozhidar, only if it's nil or false
  name ||= 'Bozhidar'

Don’t use ||= to initialize boolean
variables. (Consider what would happen if the current value happened to be
false.)[link]

  # bad - would set enabled to true even if it was false
  enabled ||= true

  # good
  enabled = true if enabled.nil?

Use .call explicitly when calling lambdas.
[link]

  # bad
  lambda.(x, y)

  # good
  lambda.call(x, y)

Avoid using Perl-style special variables (like
$0-9, $, etc. ). They are quite cryptic and their use in anything but
one-liner scripts is discouraged. Prefer long form versions such as
$PROGRAM_NAME.[link]
When a method block takes only one
argument, and the body consists solely of reading an attribute or calling
one method with no arguments, use the &: shorthand.
[link]

  # bad
  bluths.map { |bluth| bluth.occupation }
  bluths.select { |bluth| bluth.blue_self? }

  # good
  bluths.map(&:occupation)
  bluths.select(&:blue_self?)

Prefer some_method over self.some_method when
calling a method on the current instance.[link]

  # bad
  def end_date
    self.start_date + self.nights
  end

  # good
  def end_date
    start_date + nights
  end

In the following three common cases, self. is required by the language
and is good to use:

1. When defining a class method: `def self.some_method`.
2. The _left hand side_ when calling an assignment method, including assigning

an attribute when self is an ActiveRecord model: self.guest = user. 3. Referencing the current instance’s class: self.class. * When defining an object of any mutable
type meant to be a constant, make sure to call freeze on it. Common
examples are strings, arrays, and hashes.
([More on this][ruby-freeze].)[link]

The reason is that Ruby constants are actually mutable. Calling freeze
ensures they are not mutated and are therefore truly constant and
attempting to modify them will raise an exception. For strings, this allows
older versions of Ruby below 2.2 to intern them.

  # bad
  class Color
    RED = 'red'
    BLUE = 'blue'
    GREEN = 'green'

    ALL_COLORS = [
      RED,
      BLUE,
      GREEN,
    ]

    COLOR_TO_RGB = {
      RED => 0xFF0000,
      BLUE => 0x0000FF,
      GREEN => 0x00FF00,
    }
  end

  # good
  class Color
    RED = 'red'.freeze
    BLUE = 'blue'.freeze
    GREEN = 'green'.freeze

    ALL_COLORS = [
      RED,
      BLUE,
      GREEN,
    ].freeze

    COLOR_TO_RGB = {
      RED => 0xFF0000,
      BLUE => 0x0000FF,
      GREEN => 0x00FF00,
    }.freeze
  end