How to set an IF statement comparing to values inside an array? (Ruby)

Question

Is it possible to set a conditional statement (IF statement) comparing a variable against a variable that iterates through the values inside an array? I was looking for something like:

array_of_small_words = ["and","or","be","the","of","to","in"]
if word == array_of_small_words.each 
   # do thing
else
   # do another thing
end

Basically, I want to capitalize each word but don't want to do it for "small words". I know I could do the the opposite and iterate through the array first and then compare each iteration with the word but I was hoping there would be a more efficient way.

sentence = ["this","is","a","sample","of","a","title"]
array_of_small_words = ["and","or","be","the","of","to","in"]
sentence.each do |word|
    array_of_small_words.each do |small_words|
       if word == small_words
          # don't capitalize word
       else
          # capitalize word
       end
    end
end

I'm not really sure if this is possible or if there is a better way of doing this?

Thank you!

Why the rush to select an answer? Perhaps you wish to discourage others from giving answers. There's no hurry, you know. — Cary Swoveland
– Cary Swoveland, Commented Jul 30, 2016 at 19:21
Hi Cary. Sorry. Discouraging others from giving their answers was definitely not my intent. I'm new here and still getting used to the flow of how things go here so I hope you can bare with me. I appreciate your feedback! I removed the "selected answer". Thank you! — McBilly
– McBilly, Commented Jul 30, 2016 at 20:10
That was just how I chose to make the point :-), but I see how it could be misinterpreted. Another reason for holding off is that some readers may find it a bummer to see the ✅ flash on while they are preparing their answers. Many here wait at least a couple of hours, often much longer. Have a look at the SO faq when you have the time. — Cary Swoveland
– Cary Swoveland, Commented Jul 30, 2016 at 20:35
Thanks a lot Cary! :) Definitely see your point on holding off on selecting answered. I'm checking out that SO faq you linked to. Honestly, I'm very new to coding and so I haven't really been introduced to the "deeper" syntax and concepts. Anyway, thanks so much for you answer! I'm sure it will help others when they reach this question. :-) — McBilly
– McBilly, Commented Jul 31, 2016 at 3:42

Aleksei Matiushkin · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-30 18:45:10Z

1

sentence = ["this","is","a","sample","of","a","title"]
array_of_small_words = ["and","or","be","the","of","to","in"]

sentence.map do |word|
  array_of_small_words.include?(word) ? word : word.upcase
end
#⇒ ["THIS", "IS", "A", "SAMPLE", "of", "A", "TITLE"]

answered Jul 30, 2016 at 18:45

Aleksei Matiushkin

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2 Comments

McBilly Over a year ago

Thank you. I haven't been introduced to the map method yet and I will look into this.

Cary Swoveland Over a year ago

Readers, if packaged in a method and frequently used, this could be sped up by: require 'set'; ARRAY_OF_SMALL_WORDS = ["and",..,"in"], then ARRAY_OF_SMALL_WORDS.include?(word) ....

philomory · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-30 18:41:36Z

0

What you're looking for is if array_of_small_words.include?(word).

answered Jul 30, 2016 at 18:41

philomory

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3 Comments

McBilly Over a year ago

Thanks a lot! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Cary Swoveland Over a year ago

McBilly, this may be all you're looking for, but it doesn't answer the question. Answers need to show how the array ["THIS", "IS", "A", "SAMPLE", "of", "A", "TITLE"] is produced.

McBilly Over a year ago

Hi Cary. Sorry. I'm new here and still getting used to how things are done. You're right. I removed the "selected answer". Thanks for the feedback!

Cary Swoveland · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-31 07:06:41Z

This should be faster than @mudasobwa's repeated use of include? if packaged in a method and used frequency. It would not be faster, however, if mudsie used a set lookup (a minor change, of which he is well-aware), as I mentioned in a comment. If efficiency is important, I'd prefer mudsie's way with the set mod over my answer. In a way I was just playing around below.

I've assumed he small words are _{^{and, or, be, the, of, to, in}} and _{^{notwithstanding}}.

SMALL_WORDS = %w| and or be the of to in notwithstanding |
  #=> ["and", "or", "be", "the", "of", "to", "in", "notwithstanding"] 
(SMALL_WORDS_HASH = SMALL_WORDS.map { |w| [w.upcase, w] }.to_h).
  default_proc = proc { |h,k| h[k]=k }

Test:

SMALL_WORDS_HASH
  #=> {"AND"=>"and", "OR"=>"or", "BE"=>"be", "THE"=>"the", "OF"=>"of",
  #    "TO"=>"to", "IN"=>"in", "NOTWITHSTANDING"=>"notwithstanding"} 
SMALL_WORDS_HASH["TO"]
  #=> "of" 
SMALL_WORDS_HASH["HIPPO"]
  #=> "HIPPO" 

def convert(arr)
  arr.join(' ').upcase.gsub(/\w+/, SMALL_WORDS_HASH)
end

convert ["this","is","a","sample","of","a","title"]
  #=> "THIS IS A SAMPLE of A TITLE"

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