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variables

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Ruby already has `Method` objects, why not `Variable` objects as well?
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 Project Readme

Sean Huber variables

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Variable objects for class and instance variables

Ruby already has Method objects, why not Variable objects as well?

Why?

Some methods already exist for interacting with class and instance variables:

  • Module#class_variable_defined?
  • Module#class_variable_get
  • Module#class_variable_set
  • Object#instance_variable_defined?
  • Object#instance_variable_get
  • Object#instance_variable_set

But notice that these all share a common prefix - instance_variable_ or class_variable_.

This feels a little smelly, let's try to DRY it up with some Variable objects!

Installation

gem install variables

Requirements

Ruby 1.8.7+

Usage

Let's experiment with a simple User class.

class User
  def initialize(name)
    @name = name
  end
end

Objects can have any number of instance variables.

user = User.new('Bob')              #=> #<User:0x007f8f6a84aa98>
user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

Similar to Object#method, the instance_variable method returns a Variable object.

name = user.instance_variable(:name) #=> #<InstanceVariable: #<User>@name>

But unlike Object#method, this method does not require a variable to actually be defined.

undefined = user.instance_variable(:undefined) #=> #<InstanceVariable: #<User>@undefined>

We can check if a variable is defined by using the defined? method.

name.defined?      #=> true
undefined.defined? #=> false

Once we have a Variable object, we can get its value.

name.get      #=> "Bob"
undefined.get #=> nil

Similar to Hash#fetch, the fetch method raises an exception if the variable is undefined.

name.fetch      #=> "Bob"
undefined.fetch #=> Variables::UndefinedVariable - undefined variable "undefined"

The fetch method optionally accepts a default value to return if the variable is undefined.

name.fetch(:default)      #=> "Bob"
undefined.fetch(:default) #=> :default

Default values can also be defined with a block which is yielded with the Variable name.

name.fetch { |name| "#{name}-default" }      #=> "Bob"
undefined.fetch { |name| "#{name}-default" } #=> "@undefined-default"

The Object#instance_variable_fetch method allows us to fetch a variable's value by name.

name.fetch                          #=> "Bob"
user.instance_variable_fetch(:name) #=> "Bob"

We can update a Variable value by using the set method.

name.set('Steve')                   #=> "Steve"
user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Steve"

The replace method is similar to set, but it returns the old value instead of the new value.

name.replace('Bob')                 #=> "Steve"
user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

We can even temporarily replace a value for the duration of a block.

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

name.replace('Steve') do
  user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Steve"
end

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

Note that when using the block form of replace, the last expression of the block is returned.

name.replace('Steve') { 1 + 1 } #=> 2

The Object#instance_variable_replace method allows us to replace a variable's value by name.

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

user.instance_variable_replace(:name, 'Steve') do
  user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Steve"
end

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"

The instance_variable_replace method also accepts a hash of variables to replace.

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"
user.instance_variable_get('@test') #=> nil

user.instance_variable_replace(name: 'Steve', test: 'example') do
  user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Steve"
  user.instance_variable_get('@test') #=> "example"
end

user.instance_variable_get('@name') #=> "Bob"
user.instance_variable_get('@test') #=> nil

Everything that we can do with instance variables can be done with class variables as well!

example = User.class_variable(:example) #=> #<ClassVariable: User@@name>

example.defined? #=> false

example.set('testing') #=> "testing"

User.class_variable_get('@@example') #=> "testing"

API

YARD Documentation

  • Module#class_variable
  • Module#class_variable_fetch
  • Module#class_variable_replace
  • Object#instance_variable
  • Object#instance_variable_fetch
  • Object#instance_variable_replace
  • Variable#defined?
  • Variable#fetch
  • Variable#get
  • Variable#name
  • Variable#owner
  • Variable#replace
  • Variable#set

Testing

bundle exec rspec

Contributing

  • Fork the project.
  • Make your feature addition or bug fix.
  • Add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
  • Commit, do not mess with Rakefile, version, or history. (if you want to have your own version, that is fine but bump version in a commit by itself I can ignore when I pull)
  • Send me a pull request. Bonus points for topic branches.

License

MIT - Copyright © 2015 Sean Huber