From: Robert Klemme <shortcutter@...>
Date: 2012-05-31T01:23:42+09:00
Subject: Re: Don't override it - Use it

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 5:50 PM, Doug Jolley <lists@ruby-forum.com> wrote:
>> By the way: In Ruby you can leave out the parentheses for method calls
>> (unless there's ambiguity). So instead of
>>
>> puts(clubs.suit().inspect())
>>
>> you can simply write
>>
>> puts clubs.suit.inspect

> I've been meaning to respond to this.  Yes, I am aware of that fact.
> Some claim that it makes the code more readable.  I actually think that
> it does the opposite  and makes the code less readable.  The reason that
> I think that is that when I am reading Ruby code and I encounter an
> identifier by itself, I don't really know whether that identifier is a
> variable or a method.  If I see an identifier followed immediately by
> '()'; then, I know for sure that that identifier is a method.
> Consequently, I try to remember to use explicit parenthesis.  I doubt
> that I do a very good job; but, that's my thinking.

You need to do whatever feels best for you.  I'd just add if you do
not know whether something is a method or a local variable then your
methods might be too long or you use too many variables. :-)

Btw, in this particular case there is an even better way to rewrite the code:

p clubs.suit

or, if you prefer parens

p clubs.suit()
p(clubs.suit())

If you need to inspect more complex structures results are better when doing

require 'pp'
pp clubs.suit
pp clubs.suit()
pp(clubs.suit())

Kind regards

robert

-- 
remember.guy do |as, often| as.you_can - without end
http://blog.rubybestpractices.com/