Ruby Case

The case statement in Ruby is a powerful control flow mechanism that allows you to test a value against multiple conditions and execute different portions of code based on the result. In this article, we'll explore how to use the case statement in Ruby.

Syntax

The syntax of the Ruby case statement is as follows:

case expression
when condition1
  # code to execute when the condition1 is true
when condition2
  # code to execute when the condition2 is true
when condition3
  # code to execute when the condition3 is true
else
  # code to execute when none of the conditions are true
end

Example

Here's a simple example that uses the case statement to determine the day of the week:

day = Time.new.wday

case day
when 0
  puts "Today is Sunday"
when 1
  puts "Today is Monday"
when 2
  puts "Today is Tuesday"
when 3
  puts "Today is Wednesday"
when 4
  puts "Today is Thursday"
when 5
  puts "Today is Friday"
when 6
  puts "Today is Saturday"
else
  puts "Invalid day"
end

Output

Today is Monday

Explanation

In the above example, we have assigned the value of Time.new.wday to the variable day. The wday method returns the day of the week as an integer, with 0 representing Sunday and 6 representing Saturday.

The case statement then checks the value of the day variable against each of the conditions specified using the when keyword. When a match is found, the code block following the condition is executed. If none of the conditions match, the else block is executed.

Use

The case statement is useful in situations where you need to test a value against multiple conditions and execute different portions of code based on the result. It can be used instead of a series of if statements, resulting in cleaner and more concise code.

Important Points

• The case statement allows you to test a value against multiple conditions and execute different portions of code based on the result.
• The case statement is an alternative to a series of if statements.
• The else block is executed when none of the conditions match.
• The case statement can improve the readability and maintainability of your code.

Summary

The case statement is a powerful control flow mechanism in Ruby that allows you to test a value against multiple conditions and execute different portions of code based on the result. It's an alternative to a series of if statements and can improve the readability and maintainability of your code.