From: Joel VanderWerf <joelvanderwerf@...>
Date: 2010-10-14T07:23:44+09:00
Subject: Re: more idiomatic way to avoid errors when calling method on variable that may be nil?

On 10/13/2010 10:30 AM, Charles Calvert wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Oct 2010 23:04:59 -0500, Joel VanderWerf
>> var = (hash[key].downcase if hash[key])
>>
>> It works because (... if ...) returns nil if the condition is false.
>
> While that would clearly work, it makes me a little nervous as it
> isn't immediately obvious, to me at least.  Most likely I just haven't
> spent enough time with Ruby. :)

I agree. It reduces readability, and it's easy to forget the parens.