From: "mame (Yusuke Endoh) via ruby-core" <ruby-core@...>
Date: 2025-06-11T09:38:09+00:00
Subject: [ruby-core:122513] [Ruby Feature#21435] Kernel#optional as a conditional #then

Issue #21435 has been updated by mame (Yusuke Endoh).


To be honest, when I see a code fragment like `.optional { it.decorate if it.respond_to? :decorate }`, I couldn't understand the intended behavior at all. Personally, I feel that this actually increases cognitive complexity rather than reducing it.

It's not just that the method name `optional` feels inappropriate. I think the existence of a method with such tricky behavior itself adds to cognitive complexity.

In terms of cognitive complexity, I find it much easier to understand when the logic is written out explicitly, even if it's more verbose, like this:

```ruby
@record = Record.find(record_id)
@record = @record.decorate if @record.respond_to?(:decorate)
```

----------------------------------------
Feature #21435: Kernel#optional as a conditional #then
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/21435#change-113736

* Author: Alexander.Senko (Alexander Senko)
* Status: Open
----------------------------------------
When chaining, I need sometimes to apply some changes conditionally, like this:
```ruby
@record = Record.find(record_id)
  .then { it.respond_to?(:decorate) ? it.decorate : it }
```

It would be great to DRY it a bit:
```ruby
@record = Record.find(record_id)
  .optional { it.decorate if it.respond_to? :decorate }
```

Reference implementation:
```ruby
# Yields self to the block and returns the result of the block if it���s
# truthy, and self otherwise.
def optional
  tap do
    result = yield(self) or next

    break result
  end
end
```

The name is discussible.



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