Ruby Basics

Learn the basics of Ruby

Ruby Basics

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Installation
  3. Data Types
  4. Control Structures
  5. Methods
  6. Classes
  7. Conclusion

Introduction

Ruby is a high-level, interpreted programming language that emphasizes simplicity and productivity. Its syntax is designed to be easy to read and write.

Installation

Before you can start coding in Ruby, you need to install it on your computer. Visit Ruby's official download page for instructions on how to do this.

Data Types

Ruby has several built-in data types, including:

  • Numbers: 123, 3.14
  • Strings: 'hello', "world"
  • Arrays: [1, 2, 3], ['a', 'b', 'c']
  • Hashes: {'name' => 'John', 'age' => 30}

Here's how you can create variables of different data types:

number = 123
string = 'hello'
array = [1, 2, 3]
hash = {'name' => 'John', 'age' => 30}

Control Structures

Ruby has various control structures for decision making and looping, including if..else, case..when, while, until, and for. 

# if..else
if number > 0
  puts 'Positive'
else
  puts 'Negative or zero'
end

# case..when
case greeting
when 'hello'
  puts 'Greeting received'
else
  puts 'No greeting received'
end

# while
while number < 10
  puts number
  number += 1
end

Methods

Methods in Ruby are defined using the def keyword:

def say_hello
  puts 'Hello, world!'
end

# Call the method
say_hello

Methods can also take parameters:

def greet(name)
  puts "Hello, #{name}!"
end

# Call the method with an argument
greet('John')

Classes

Ruby is an object-oriented language, so you can define classes to create objects:

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

  def greet
    puts "Hello, #{@name}!"
  end
end

# Create an object
john = Person.new('John')

# Call a method on the object
john.greet

Conclusion

This module has provided a brief introduction to Ruby. There's a lot more to learn, but this should give you a good foundation to start from. Happy coding!

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