Using "rescue" inline

[Iñaki Baz Castillo]

Hi, is it correct the following "rescue" usage?

myvar =3D 1 # Fixnum
othervar =3D myvar.downcase rescue myvar
=3D> 1

It seems to work, but is it really correct? Thanks.

--=20
I=C3=B1aki Baz Castillo
<[email protected]>

 

[Brian Adkins]

Hi, is it correct the following "rescue" usage?

myvar = 1 # Fixnum
othervar = myvar.downcase rescue myvar
=> 1

It seems to work, but is it really correct? Thanks.

Naturally, "correctness" depends on what you're trying to
accomplish. That is one valid use of rescue as a statement modifier
which will assign the value of myvar.downcase to othervar unless the
downcase method raises an exception, in which case it will assign
myvar instead. You can also use more than one rescue as in:

x = foo(y) rescue bar(y) rescue baz(y) rescue nil

 

[Brian Candler]

Hi, is it correct the following "rescue" usage?

myvar = 1 # Fixnum
othervar = myvar.downcase rescue myvar
=> 1

It seems to work, but is it really correct? Thanks.

Yes. What you have written is shorthand form of rescue, equivalent to:

myvar = 1
othervar = begin
myvar.downcase
rescue StandardError
myvar
end

 

[Rob Biedenharn]

Hi, is it correct the following "rescue" usage?

myvar =3D 1 # Fixnum
othervar =3D myvar.downcase rescue myvar
=3D> 1

It seems to work, but is it really correct? Thanks.

-- =20
I=F1aki Baz Castillo
<[email protected]>

Hmm, "correct"? Well, it is certainly legal syntax and is equivalent to:

othervar =3D begin
myvar.downcase
rescue
myvar
end

But, it might not be the best way to shave the yak.

othervar =3D myvar.respond_to?downcase) ? myvar.downcase : myvar

might perform better if the exception to be rescued is expensive to =20
construct only to then be thrown away. (I don't know if there's any =20
special optimization of the expression form of rescue compared to the =20=

block form.)

It also can hide problems that you won't know that you have. For =20
example,
myvar =3D nil
othervar =3D myvar.downcase rescue myvar
Did you want to set othervar to nil also?
Perhaps you need othervar as a downcased String? Maybe it would be =20
better as:
othervar =3D myvar.to_s.downcase

In any case, you'd have to decide.

-Rob


Rob Biedenharn http://agileconsultingllc.com
(e-mail address removed)=

 

[Herman Martinelli]

Naturally, "correctness" depends on what you're trying to
accomplish.

LOL
That's really a good one (in addition to the valuable Ruby answer).

H.

 

[Iñaki Baz Castillo]

El Mi=E9rcoles, 25 de Febrero de 2009, Rob Biedenharn escribi=F3:

othervar =3D myvar.respond_to?downcase) ? myvar.downcase : myvar

might perform better if the exception to be rescued is expensive to
construct only to then be thrown away. (I don't know if there's any
special optimization of the expression form of rescue compared to the
block form.)

Really good point. But I've done some benchmarks comparing both approache a=
nd=20
using "rescue" is ~ 0.30e-5 faster than your approach (even if yours seems=
=20
more ellegant to me).

It also can hide problems that you won't know that you have. For
example,
myvar =3D nil
othervar =3D myvar.downcase rescue myvar
Did you want to set othervar to nil also?

Not exactly, but myvar could be a Fixnum so othervar would also be a Fixnum=
=2E=20
But if myvar is a String then I want othervar to be the same String but=20
downcase.


Thanks a lot.


=2D-=20
I=F1aki Baz Castillo

 

[Rob Biedenharn]

El Mi=E9rcoles, 25 de Febrero de 2009, Rob Biedenharn escribi=F3:


Really good point. But I've done some benchmarks comparing both =20
approache and
using "rescue" is ~ 0.30e-5 faster than your approach (even if yours =20=

seems
more ellegant to me).

It depends on how often myvar.downcase raises an exception. If that's =20=

really an exceptional occurrence, then just rescuing the occasional =20
failure is the Ruby way.

Not exactly, but myvar could be a Fixnum so othervar would also be a =20=

Fixnum.
But if myvar is a String then I want othervar to be the same String =20=

but
downcase.


Thanks a lot.
--=20
I=F1aki Baz Castillo

de nada

-Rob

Rob Biedenharn http://agileconsultingllc.com
(e-mail address removed)

 

[lasitha]

Not exactly, but myvar could be a Fixnum so othervar would also be a Fixn= um.
But if myvar is a String then I want othervar to be the same String but
downcase.

This may be stating the obvious but code that branches based on type
is smelly. That is not to say it's always wrong, just always at least
a little smelly . Particularly if you find multiple places in the
code having to deal with Fixnum and String conditionally.

The inline rescue slightly obscures the conditional but the smell
remains. It may be worthwhile reconsidering whether you really want
myvar to hold disparate types.

I would also reiterate Rob's concern that this rescue could easily
hide some unrelated bug (mvay being nil being the most obvious).

These two concerns would be enough for me to reconsider, but as usual,
it all depends on context.

Cheers,
lasitha

 

[Iñaki Baz Castillo]

This may be stating the obvious but code that branches based on type
is smelly. =C2=A0That is not to say it's always wrong, just always at lea= st
a little smelly . =C2=A0Particularly if you find multiple places in the
code having to deal with Fixnum and String conditionally.

The inline rescue slightly obscures the conditional but the smell
remains. =C2=A0It may be worthwhile reconsidering whether you really want
myvar to hold disparate types.

I would also reiterate Rob's concern that this rescue could easily
hide some unrelated bug (mvay being nil being the most obvious).

These two concerns would be enough for me to reconsider, but as usual,
it all depends on context.

Yes, you are right, I'll consider it. Thanks a lot.


--=20
I=C3=B1aki Baz Castillo
<[email protected]>