Changing variable into string

Question

Please see the following code (taken from Learning Ruby book):

def timer(start)
  puts "Minutes: " + start.to_s
  start_time = Time.now
  puts start_time.strftime("Start time: %I:%M:%S: %p")
  start.downto(1) { |i| sleep 60 }
  end_time = Time.now
  print end_time.strftime("Elapsed time: %I:%M:%S: %p\n")
end

timer 10

Why would there be a need to change the start variable into a string on the puts line? Couldn't I, for example, simply put in puts "Minutes: #{start}"?

Also, the start.downto(1) line: Is the block {|i| sleep 60} specifying how many seconds a minute should be?

It's only required if you want to see the time in a nice format with "Start time:..." etc in front of it, or if you want a specific date/time format. — lurker
– lurker, Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 17:31
I suspect you mean def timer(start). Reply not required, as I'll be deleting this comment. — Cary Swoveland
– Cary Swoveland, Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 17:34
Here is the documentation for Kernel#sleep. Note that { |i| sleep 60 } can be written { sleep 60 }, since the iterator variable i is not used. — Cary Swoveland
– Cary Swoveland, Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 17:48
I found that example on page 58 of the book you reference. As I had suspected, def timer should be def timer(start). Please correct that. — Cary Swoveland
– Cary Swoveland, Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 18:05

lurker · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-08 17:39:29Z

2

Yes, you can also say:

puts "Mintues: #{start}"

It's one of many nice Ruby choices. :) In this case, it doesn't make much difference.

Regarding the loop:

start.downto(1) { |i| sleep 60 }

Yes, this is counting minutes down to 1 and each time is sleeping 60 seconds. So it will sleep for start minutes. If start isn't too large, you could just use sleep 60*start.

edited Jan 8, 2014 at 17:39

answered Jan 8, 2014 at 17:34

lurker

58.5k9 gold badges74 silver badges108 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Changing variable into string

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related