From: Aldric Giacomoni <aldric@...>
Date: 2010-03-31T21:22:02+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby Koans: will this method ever return :empty?

Steve Kim wrote:
> I'm having trouble understanding the return statement for this 
> particular
> koan:
> 
> class MessageCatcher
>   def add_a_payload(*args)
>     return :empty unless args
>     args
>   end
> end
> 
> mc = MessageCatcher.new
> mc.add_a_payload # []
> mc.add_a_payload(1) # [1]
> 
> Is it possible to have this method return :empty?
> 
> 
> skim

Sure.. Building up a little on the previous post which gave you the 
answer:

class MessageCatcher
  def add_a_payload *args
    args.empty? :empty : args
  end
end

Although as far as form and style go, it's very bad manners to have a 
method return either an array or a symbol ;-) It's better to always 
return an array, or always return a symbol - so it's easier to use. For 
instance:

args.empty? [:empty] : args

Cheers.
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