Best structure for a set of functions

Ruby
1

Hi,

I need to create a set of functions and I’m wondering what’s the best
way to achieve it.

  • A singleton class that holds all the functions
  • A class with only class methods ( def self.method_name …)
  • A Module ? (I don’t really know what are the advantages of module in
    that case)

The functions don’t need instance attributes so I guess singleton class
is not really needed here.

What’s your opinion on this ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

PS: Sorry for my poor english :wink:

H.

2

hi Harold,

from what i understand, a module is most likely what you’re looking
for here… someone else could probably explain what goes on under the
hood much better than i can (and hopefully they will!) but a module is
usually used in cases where you just want to hold a collection of
constants and methods which can later be used in any class you include
the module in. here’s a simple example:

module Funcs
def caps(array)
array.each{|i| puts i.capitalize}
end

def backwards(array)
newarray = []
array.each{|i| newarray.insert(0, i)}
puts newarray
end
end

class Example
include Funcs
def initialize
a = %W[funky chunky monkey]
caps(a)
backwards(a)
end
end

e = Example.new

take a look here for more info - The Ruby Language FAQ: Classes and modules

cheers,

  • j

p.s. i’d say your english is quite good!

3

jake kaiden wrote in post #1007290:

def backwards(array)
newarray = []
array.each{|i| newarray.insert(0, i)}
puts newarray
end
end

haha - guess i’m reinventing the wheel here a bit, “array.reverse!”
would work just as well! :wink:

  • j
4

Harold W. wrote in post #1007266:

I need to create a set of functions and I’m wondering what’s the best
way to achieve it.

  • A singleton class that holds all the functions
  • A class with only class methods ( def self.method_name …)
  • A Module ? (I don’t really know what are the advantages of module in
    that case)

I’d say a Module. If these functions are standalone (not to be mixed
into a class) then you can define them like this:

module Foo
def self.bar
puts “yo”
end
end

Foo.bar

But there’s another option:

module Foo
def bar
puts “yo”
end
module_function :bar
end

I believe in this case you can call it as Foo.bar, and mix the module
into a class.