This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Ruby Buzz by Jeremy Voorhis. Original Post: On Writing Well: Exposition or Code Feed Title: JVoorhis Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/jvoorhis Feed Description: JVoorhis is a Rubyist in northeast Ohio. He rambles about Ruby on Rails, development practices, other frameworks such as Django, and on other days he is just full of snark. Latest Ruby Buzz Posts Latest Ruby Buzz Posts by Jeremy Voorhis Latest Posts From JVoorhis

When I signed on with O’Reilly Media to write Rails In a Nutshell, I was sent a welcome package that included an audio recording of On Writing Well. One idea that On Writing Well stresses is that you can improve anything you write by cutting 50% of it. The recording even includes a stopping point where the listener is to stop and shorten the last thing he or she has written by 50%.

PuneRuby has posted an interview with Jean-Christian Fischer that I will quote:

I have the 50% rule as a measure of success: I���m usually able to reduce code I have written by 50% by applying better ruby techniques. I try to do that on my code and rejoice when I���m able to achieve that reduction.

I agree. Although some programmers might think this means obfuscation, Ruby offers many ways to cut your code and make it more acceptable. Some places to start:

• Only use return when you really need multiple return paths.
• Can you rewrite a conditional statement with a modifier?
• Are you trapping an exception within a begin block? Do you really need that extra scope? Example: replace

  
    def catch_a_fish
      begin
        @line.cast
      rescue InsufficientBaitError
        @line.replenish_bait
      end
    end
    

  with

  
    def catch_a_fish
      @line.cast
    rescue InsufficientBaitError
      @line.replenish_bait
    end
    

• Are you handling an exception? Can you use the rescue modifier? Example: replace

  
    def deep_copy
      @widgets.map do |w|
        begin
          w.dup
        rescue
          w
        end
      end
    end
    

  with

  
    def deep_copy
      @widgets.map { |w| w.dup rescue w }
    end
    

• Can you rewrite a simple call to Enumerable#map with Symbol#to_proc? Rewrite

  
    @objects.map { |o| o.attribute }
    

  as

  
    @objects.map &:attribute
    

Ruby has many syntactical elements that help you write denser, more readable code. Experiment and see what matches your taste, and more importantly, contributes to readability.