Ruby Quicktips

Spread command chains across multiple lines

Ruby’s syntax allows you to spread command chains across multiple lines:

puts "You can do a lot with this in one line".reverse.sub('eno', 'elpitlum').sub(' htiw tol a', '').reverse.<< 's, too!'

…can also be written like this:

puts "You can do a lot with this in one line".
reverse.
sub('eno', 'elpitlum').
sub(' htiw tol a', '').
reverse.
<< 's, too!'

In Ruby < 1.9 you have to place the dot at the end of the line, like shown in the example above. From Ruby 1.9 on, you can also place the dot at the beginning of the next line, right before the next command call.