By the way, if you're into Rails you might want to check out the complementary [Ruby on Rails Style Guide][rails-style-guide].
This a fork of the Style Guide by bbatsov.
- Source Code Layout
- Syntax
- Naming
- Comments
- Classes
- Exceptions
- Collections
- Strings
- Regular Expressions
- Percent Literals
- Metaprogramming
- Misc
- Tools
-
Use
UTF-8as the source file encoding. [link] -
Use two spaces per indentation level (aka soft tabs). No hard tabs. [link]
# bad - four spaces def some_method do_something end # good def some_method do_something end
-
Use Unix-style line endings. (*BSD/Solaris/Linux/OS X users are covered by default, Windows users have to be extra careful.) [link]
-
Don't use
;to separate statements and expressions. As a corollary - use one expression per line. [link]# bad puts 'foobar'; # superfluous semicolon puts 'foo'; puts 'bar' # two expressions on the same line # good puts 'foobar' puts 'foo' puts 'bar' puts 'foo', 'bar' # this applies to puts in particular
-
Prefer a single-line format for class definitions with no body. [link]
# bad class FooError < StandardError end # okish FooError = Class.new(StandardError) # good class FooError < StandardError; end
-
Avoid single-line methods. Although they are somewhat popular in the wild, there are a few peculiarities about their definition syntax that make their use undesirable. At any rate - there should be no more than one expression in a single-line method. [link]
# bad def too_much; something; something_else; end # bad - valid syntax, but hard to read def some_method() body end # okish - notice that the first ; is required def no_braces_method; body end # okish - notice that the second ; is optional def no_braces_method; body; end # good def some_method body end
One exception to the rule are empty-body methods.
# good def no_op; end
-
Use spaces around operators, after commas, colons and semicolons, around
{and before}. Whitespace might be (mostly) irrelevant to the Ruby interpreter, but its proper use is the key to writing easily readable code. [link]sum = 1 + 2 a, b = 1, 2 [1, 2, 3].each { |e| puts e } class FooError < StandardError; end
The only exception, regarding operators, is the exponent operator:
# bad e = M * c ** 2 # good e = M * c**2
{and}deserve a bit of clarification, since they are used for block and hash literals, as well as embedded expressions in strings.# bad - no space after { and before } {one: 1, two: 2} # good - space after { and before } { one: 1, two: 2 }
As far as embedded expressions go do not have spaces as above in string interpolation:
# bad "string#{ expr }" # good - no spaces "string#{expr}"
-
No spaces after
(,[or before],). [link]some(arg).other [1, 2, 3].size
-
No space after
!. [link]# bad ! something # good !something
-
No space inside range literals. [link]
# bad 1 .. 3 'a' ... 'z' # good 1..3 'a'..'z'
-
Indent
whenas deep ascase. I know that many would disagree with this one, but it's the style established in both "The Ruby Programming Language" and "Programming Ruby".
[link]
# bad
case
when song.name == 'Misty'
puts 'Not again!'
when song.duration > 120
puts 'Too long!'
when Time.now.hour > 21
puts "It's too late"
else
song.play
end
# good
case
when song.name == 'Misty'
puts 'Not again!'
when song.duration > 120
puts 'Too long!'
when Time.now.hour > 21
puts "It's too late"
else
song.play
end-
When assigning the result of a conditional expression to a variable, preserve the usual alignment of its branches. [link]
# bad - pretty convoluted kind = case year when 1850..1889 then 'Blues' when 1890..1909 then 'Ragtime' when 1910..1929 then 'New Orleans Jazz' when 1930..1939 then 'Swing' when 1940..1950 then 'Bebop' else 'Jazz' end result = if some_cond calc_something else calc_something_else end # good - it's apparent what's going on kind = case year when 1850..1889 then 'Blues' when 1890..1909 then 'Ragtime' when 1910..1929 then 'New Orleans Jazz' when 1930..1939 then 'Swing' when 1940..1950 then 'Bebop' else 'Jazz' end result = if some_cond calc_something else calc_something_else end # good - if what you're assign to is a bit long monkey.father.favorite_music = case year when 1850..1889 then 'Blues' when 1890..1909 then 'Ragtime' when 1910..1929 then 'New Orleans Jazz' when 1930..1939 then 'Swing' when 1940..1950 then 'Bebop' else 'Jazz' end monkey.father.favorite_music = if some_cond calc_something else calc_something_else end
-
Use empty lines between method definitions and also to break up a method into logical paragraphs internally. [link]
def some_method data = initialize options data.manipulate! data.result end def some_method result end
-
Avoid comma after the last parameter in a method call, especially when the parameters are not on separate lines. [link]
# bad - easier to move/add/remove parameters, but still not preferred some_method size, count, color, # bad some_method size, count, color, # good some_method size, count, color
-
Use spaces around the
=operator when assigning default values to method parameters: [link]# bad def some_method arg1=:default, arg2=nil, arg3=[] # do something... end # good def some_method arg1 = :default, arg2 = nil, arg3 = [] # do something... end
-
Avoid line continuation
\where not required. In practice, avoid using line continuations for anything but string concatenation. [link]# bad result = 1 - \ 2 # good (but still ugly as hell) result = 1 \ - 2 long_string = 'First part of the long string' \ ' and second part of the long string'
-
Multi-line method chaining style.
-
(Option A) When continuing a chained method invocation on another line keep the
.on the second line.# bad - need to consult first line to understand second line one.two.three. four # good - it's immediately clear what's going on the second line one.two .three .four
-
-
Align the parameters of a method call if they span more than one line. When aligning parameters is not appropriate due to line-length constraints, single indent for the lines after the first is also acceptable. [link]
# starting point (line is too long) def send_mail source Mailer.deliver(to: '[email protected]', from: '[email protected]', subject: 'Important message', body: source.text) end # bad (double indent) def send_mail source Mailer.deliver( to: '[email protected]', from: '[email protected]', subject: 'Important message', body: source.text) end # okish def send_mail source Mailer.deliver(to: '[email protected]', from: '[email protected]', subject: 'Important message', body: source.text) end # best (normal indent with param values aligned) def send_mail source Mailer.deliver( to: '[email protected]', from: '[email protected]', subject: 'Important message', body: source.text ) end
-
Align the elements of array literals spanning multiple lines. [link]
# bad - single indent menu_item = ['Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Baked beans', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam'] # not so hot menu_item = ['Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Baked beans', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam'] # good menu_item = [ 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Baked beans', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam', 'Spam' ] # best when array elements are longish strings/symbols/etc. # if no other order is obvious alphabetize. menu_item = [ 'cats-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam-spam', 'dogs-spam-spam-spam-spam', 'goats-spam-spam-spam-spam', 'horses-spam-spam-spam-spam', 'sheep-spam-spam-spam-spam', 'turtles-spam-spam-spam-spam' ]
-
Add underscores to large numeric literals to improve their readability. [link]
# bad - how many 0s are there? num = 1000000 # good - much easier to parse for the human brain num = 1_000_000
-
Limit lines to 120 characters. [link]
-
Avoid trailing whitespace. [link]
-
End each file with a newline. [link]
-
Don't use block comments. They cannot be preceded by whitespace and are not as easy to spot as regular comments. [link]
# bad =begin comment line another comment line =end # good # comment line # another comment line
-
Method chains: put periods in front when using new lines for method chains
# bad Animals. select('distinct(foo)'). where(id: 8299832). order('name desc') # good Animals .select('distinct(foo)') .where(id: 8299832) .order('name desc')
-
Use
::only to reference constants(this includes classes and modules) and constructors (likeArray()orNokogiri::HTML()). Do not use::for regular method invocation. [link]# bad SomeClass::some_method some_object::some_method # good SomeClass.some_method some_object.some_method SomeModule::SomeClass::SOME_CONST SomeModule::SomeClass()
-
Use
defwithout parentheses when there are arguments [link]# good def some_method # body omitted end # good def some_method_with_arguments arg1, arg2 # body omitted end
-
Do not use
for, unless you know exactly why. Most of the time iterators should be used instead.foris implemented in terms ofeach(so you're adding a level of indirection), but with a twist -fordoesn't introduce a new scope (unlikeeach) and variables defined in its block will be visible outside it. [link]arr = [1, 2, 3] # bad for elem in arr do puts elem end # note that elem is accessible outside of the for loop elem # => 3 # good arr.each { |elem| puts elem } # elem is not accessible outside each's block elem # => NameError: undefined local variable or method `elem'
-
Do not use
thenfor multi-lineif/unless. [link]# bad if some_condition then # body omitted end # good if some_condition # body omitted end
-
Always put the condition on the same line as the
if/unlessin a multi-line conditional. [link]# bad if some_condition do_something do_something_else end # good if some_condition do_something do_something_else end
-
Favor the ternary operator(
?:) over single lineif/then/else/endconstructs. It's more common and obviously more concise. Don't use ternary with complex conditionals or expressions [link]# bad result = if some_condition then something else something_else end # good result = some_condition ? something : something_else
-
Use one expression per branch in a ternary operator. This also means that ternary operators must not be nested. Prefer
if/elseconstructs in these cases. [link]# bad some_condition ? (nested_condition ? nested_something : nested_something_else) : something_else # good if some_condition nested_condition ? nested_something : nested_something_else else something_else end
-
Do not use
if x; .... Use the ternary operator instead. [link]# bad result = if some_condition; something else something_else end # good result = some_condition ? something : something_else
-
Leverage the fact that
ifandcaseare expressions which return a result. [link]# bad if condition result = x else result = y end # good result = if condition x else y end
-
Use
when x then ...for one-line cases. The alternative syntaxwhen x: ...has been removed as of Ruby 1.9. [link] -
Do not use
when x; .... See the previous rule. [link] -
Use
!instead ofnot. [link]# bad - braces are required because of op precedence x = (not something) # good x = !something
-
Avoid the use of
!!. [link]# bad x = 'test' # obscure nil check if !!x # body omitted end x = false # double negation is useless on booleans !!x # => false # good x = 'test' unless x.nil? # body omitted end
-
The
andandorkeywords are banned. It's just not worth it. Always use&&and||instead. [link]# bad # boolean expression if some_condition and some_other_condition do_something end # control flow document.saved? or document.save! # good # boolean expression if some_condition && some_other_condition do_something end # bad control flow, just put on separate lines document.saved? || document.save!
-
Avoid multi-line
?:(the ternary operator); useif/unlessinstead. [link] -
Favor modifier
if/unlessusage when you have a single-line body. Another good alternative is the usage of control flow&&/||. [link]# bad if some_condition do_something end # good do_something if some_condition # another good option some_condition && do_something # bad option, use separate lines some_condition || do_something
-
Avoid modifier
if/unlessusage at the end of a non-trivial multi-line block. [link]# bad 10.times do # multi-line body omitted end if some_condition # good if some_condition 10.times do # multi-line body omitted end end
-
Favor
unlessoveriffor negative conditions (or control flow||). [link]# bad do_something if !some_condition # bad do_something if not some_condition # good do_something unless some_condition
-
Do not use
unlesswithelse. Rewrite these with the positive case first. [link]# bad unless success? puts 'failure' else puts 'success' end # good if success? puts 'success' else puts 'failure' end
-
Don't use parentheses around the condition of an
if/unless/while/until. [link]# bad if (x > 10) # body omitted end # good if x > 10 # body omitted end
Note that there is an exception to this rule, namely safe assignment in condition.
-
Do not use
while/until condition dofor multi-linewhile/until. [link]# bad while x > 5 do # body omitted end until x > 5 do # body omitted end # good while x > 5 # body omitted end until x > 5 # body omitted end
-
Favor modifier
while/untilusage when you have a single-line body. [link]# bad while some_condition do_something end # good do_something while some_condition
-
Favor
untiloverwhilefor negative conditions. [link]# bad do_something while !some_condition # good do_something until some_condition
-
Use
Kernel#loopinstead ofwhile/untilwhen you need an infinite loop. [link]# bad while true do_something end until false do_something end # good loop do do_something end
-
Omit parentheses when defining methods. [link]
# bad def something(foo, bar) ... end # good def something foo, bar ... end
-
Omit parentheses when calling methods unless needed for precedence or if code becomes confusing without them. [link]
class Person attr_reader :name, :age end temperance = Person.new Temperance.new, 30 temperance.name puts temperance.age # Some method invocations just look better with parentheses. Use them. x = Math.sin(y) array.delete(e)
-
Omit the outer braces around an implicit options hash. [link]
# bad user.set({ name: 'John', age: 45, permissions: { read: true } }) # good. Notice use of parentheses here. It helps with readability) user.set(name: 'John', age: 45, permissions: { read: true })
-
Omit both the outer braces and parentheses for methods that are part of an internal DSL. [link]
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base # bad validates(:name, { presence: true, length: { within: 1..10 } }) # good validates :name, presence: true, length: { within: 1..10 } end
-
Omit parentheses for method calls with no arguments. [link]
# bad Kernel.exit!() 2.even?() fork() 'test'.upcase() # good Kernel.exit! 2.even? fork 'test'.upcase
-
Prefer
{...}overdo...endfor single-line blocks. Avoid using{...}for multi-line blocks (multiline chaining is always ugly). Always usedo...endfor "control flow" and "method definitions" (e.g. in Rakefiles and certain DSLs). Avoiddo...endwhen chaining. [link]names = ['Bozhidar', 'Steve', 'Sarah'] # bad names.each do |name| puts name end # good names.each { |name| puts name } # bad names.select do |name| name.start_with? 'S' end.map { |name| name.upcase } # good names.select { |name| name.start_with?('S') }.map { |name| name.upcase }
Some will argue that multiline chaining would look OK with the use of {...}, but they should ask themselves - is this code really readable and can the blocks' contents be extracted into nifty methods?
-
Consider using explicit block argument to avoid writing block literal that just passes its arguments to another block. Beware of the performance impact, though, as the block gets converted to a Proc. [link]
require 'tempfile' # bad def with_tmp_dir Dir.mktmpdir do |tmp_dir| Dir.chdir(tmp_dir) { |dir| yield dir } # block just passes arguments end end # good def with_tmp_dir &block Dir.mktmpdir do |tmp_dir| Dir.chdir tmp_dir, &block end end with_tmp_dir do |dir| puts "dir is accessible as a parameter and pwd is set: #{dir}" end
-
Avoid
returnwhere not required for flow of control. [link]# bad def some_method some_arr return some_arr.size end # good def some_method some_arr some_arr.size end
-
Avoid
selfwhere not required. (It is only required when calling a self write accessor.) [link]# bad def ready? if self.last_reviewed_at > self.last_updated_at self.worker.update self.content, self.options self.status = :in_progress end self.status == :verified end # good def ready? if last_reviewed_at > last_updated_at worker.update content, options self.status = :in_progress end status == :verified end
-
As a corollary, avoid shadowing methods with local variables unless they are both equivalent. [link]
class Foo attr_accessor :options # ok def initialize options self.options = options # both options and self.options are equivalent here end # bad def do_something options = {} unless options[:when] == :later output self.options[:message] end end # good def do_something params = {} unless params[:when] == :later output options[:message] end end end
-
Don't use the return value of
=(an assignment) in conditional expressions unless the assignment is wrapped in parentheses. This is a fairly popular idiom among Rubyists that's sometimes referred to as safe assignment in condition. [link]# bad (+ a warning) if v = array.grep /foo/ do_something(v) ... end # good (MRI would still complain, but RuboCop won't) if (v = array.grep(/foo/)) do_something(v) ... end # good v = array.grep /foo/ if v do_something(v) ... end
-
Use shorthand self assignment operators whenever applicable. [link]
# bad x = x + y x = x * y x = x**y x = x / y x = x || y x = x && y # good x += y x *= y x **= y x /= y x ||= y x &&= y
-
Use
||=to initialize variables only if they're not already initialized. [link]# bad name = name ? name : 'Bozhidar' # bad name = 'Bozhidar' unless name # good - set name to Bozhidar, only if it's nil or false name ||= 'Bozhidar'
-
Don't use
||=to initialize boolean variables. (Consider what would happen if the current value happened to befalse.) [link]# bad - would set enabled to true even if it was false enabled ||= true # good enabled = true if enabled.nil?
-
Use
&&=to preprocess variables that may or may not exist. Using&&=will change the value only if it exists and is non-nil, removing the need to check its existence withif. [link]# bad if something something = something.downcase end # bad something = something ? something.downcase : nil # ok something = something.downcase if something # good something = something && something.downcase # better something &&= something.downcase
-
Avoid explicit use of the case equality operator
===. As its name implies it is meant to be used implicitly bycaseexpressions and outside of them it yields some pretty confusing code. [link]# bad Array === something (1..100) === 7 /something/ === some_string # good something.is_a? Array (1..100).include?(7) some_string =~ /something/
-
Avoid using Perl-style special variables (like
$:,$;, etc. ). They are quite cryptic and their use in anything but one-liner scripts is discouraged. Use the human-friendly aliases provided by theEnglishlibrary. [link]# bad $:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__) # good require 'English' $LOAD_PATH.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__)
-
Do not put a space between a method name and the opening parenthesis. [link]
# bad f (3 + 2) + 1 # good f(3 + 2) + 1
-
If the first argument to a method begins with an open parenthesis, always use parentheses in the method invocation. For example, write
f((3 + 2) + 1). [link] -
Always run the Ruby interpreter with the
-woption so it will warn you if you forget either of the rules above! [link] -
Use the new lambda literal syntax for single line body blocks. Use the
lambdamethod for multi-line blocks. [link]# bad l = lambda { |a, b| a + b } l.call(1, 2) # correct, but looks extremely awkward l = ->(a, b) do tmp = a * 7 tmp * b / 50 end # good l = ->(a, b) { a + b } l.call(1, 2) l = lambda do |a, b| tmp = a * 7 tmp * b / 50 end
-
Prefer
procoverProc.new. [link]# bad p = Proc.new { |n| puts n } # good p = proc { |n| puts n }
-
Prefer
proc.call()overproc[]orproc.()for both lambdas and procs. [link]# bad - looks similar to Enumeration access l = ->(v) { puts v } l[1] # also bad - uncommon syntax l = ->(v) { puts v } l.(1) # good l = ->(v) { puts v } l.call(1)
-
Prefix instance variables with
_that are used for only local caching and only used in the getter and setter methods. [link]# bad def something x @x ||= lookup end # bad def something x @_x ||= lookup end def something_else y @_x + y end # good def something @_something ||= lookup end def something= s @_something = s end
-
Use
$stdout/$stderr/$stdininstead ofSTDOUT/STDERR/STDIN.STDOUT/STDERR/STDINare constants, and while you can actually reassign (possibly to redirect some stream) constants in Ruby, you'll get an interpreter warning if you do so. [link] -
Use
warninstead of$stderr.puts. Apart from being more concise and clear,warnallows you to suppress warnings if you need to (by setting the warn level to 0 via-W0). [link] -
Favor the use of
sprintfand its aliasformatover the fairly crypticString#%method. [link]# bad '%d %d' % [20, 10] # => '20 10' # good sprintf('%d %d', 20, 10) # => '20 10' # good sprintf('%{first} %{second}', first: 20, second: 10) # => '20 10' format('%d %d', 20, 10) # => '20 10' # good format('%{first} %{second}', first: 20, second: 10) # => '20 10'
-
Favor the use of
Array#joinover the fairly crypticArray#*with [link] a string argument.# bad %w(one two three) * ', ' # => 'one, two, three' # good %w(one two three).join(', ') # => 'one, two, three'
-
Use
[*var]orArray()instead of explicitArraycheck, when dealing with a variable you want to treat as an Array, but you're not certain it's an array. [link]# bad paths = [paths] unless paths.is_a? Array paths.each { |path| do_something(path) } # good [*paths].each { |path| do_something(path) } # good (and a bit more readable) Array(paths).each { |path| do_something(path) }
-
Use ranges or
Comparable#between?instead of complex comparison logic when possible. [link]# bad do_something if x >= 1000 && x <= 2000 # good do_something if (1000..2000).include?(x) # good do_something if x.between?(1000, 2000)
-
Favor the use of predicate methods, except .eql?, to explicit comparisons with
==. Numeric comparisons are OK. [link]# bad if x % 2 == 0 end if x % 2 == 1 end if x == nil end if x.eql? 3 end # good if x.even? end if x.odd? end if x.nil? end if x.zero? end if x == 0 end
-
Don't do explicit non-
nilchecks unless you're dealing with boolean values. [link]# bad do_something if !something.nil? do_something if something != nil # good do_something if something # good - dealing with a boolean def value_set? !@some_boolean.nil? end
-
Avoid the use of
BEGINblocks. [link] -
Do not use
ENDblocks. UseKernel#at_exitinstead. [link]# bad END { puts 'Goodbye!' } # good at_exit { puts 'Goodbye!' }
-
Avoid use of deeply nested conditionals for flow of control. [link]
Prefer a guard clause when you can assert invalid data. A guard clause is a conditional statement at the top of a function that bails out as soon as it can.
# bad def compute_thing thing if thing[:foo] update_with_bar thing if thing[:foo][:bar] partial_compute thing else re_compute thing end end end # good def compute_thing thing return unless thing[:foo] update_with_bar thing[:foo] if thing[:foo][:bar] partial_compute thing else re_compute thing end end
Prefer
nextin loops instead of conditional blocks.# bad [0, 1, 2, 3].each do |item| if item > 1 puts item end end # good [0, 1, 2, 3].each do |item| next unless item > 1 puts item end
-
Prefer
mapovercollect,detectoverfind,selectoverfind_all,reduceoverinjectandsizeoverlength. This is not a hard requirement; if the use of the alias enhances readability, it's ok to use it. [link] -
Don't use
countas a substitute forsize. ForEnumerableobjects other thanArrayit will iterate the entire collection in order to determine its size. [link]# bad some_hash.count # good some_hash.size
-
Use
reverse_eachinstead ofreverse.each.reverse_eachdoesn't do a new array allocation and that's a good thing. [link]# bad array.reverse.each { ... } # good array.reverse_each { ... }
The only real difficulties in programming are cache invalidation and naming things.
-- Phil Karlton
-
Name identifiers in English. [link]
# bad - identifier using non-ascii characters заплата = 1_000 # bad - identifier is a Bulgarian word, written with Latin letters (instead of Cyrillic) zaplata = 1_000 # bad - avoid abbreviations except in very small blocks. req = 1_000 # good salary = 1_000
-
Use
snake_casefor symbols, methods and variables. [link]# bad :'some symbol' :SomeSymbol :someSymbol someVar = 5 def someMethod ... end def SomeMethod ... end # good :some_symbol def some_method ... end
-
Use
CamelCasefor classes and modules. (Keep acronyms like HTTP, RFC, XML uppercase.) [link]# bad class Someclass ... end class Some_Class ... end class SomeXml ... end # good class SomeClass ... end class SomeXML ... end
-
Use
snake_casefor naming files, e.g.hello_world.rb. [link] -
Use
snake_casefor naming directories, e.g.lib/hello_world/hello_world.rb. [link] -
Aim to have just a single class/module per source file. Name the file name as the class/module, but replacing CamelCase with snake_case. [link]
-
Use
SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASEfor other constants. [link]# bad SomeConst = 5 # good SOME_CONST = 5
-
The names of predicate methods (methods that return a boolean value) should end in a question mark. (i.e.
Array#empty?). Methods that don't return a boolean, shouldn't end in a question mark. [link] -
The names of potentially dangerous methods (i.e. methods that modify
selfor the arguments,exit!(doesn't run the finalizers likeexitdoes), etc.) should end with an exclamation mark if there exists a safe version of that dangerous method. [link]# bad - there is no matching 'safe' method class Person def update! end end # good class Person def update end end # good class Person def update! end def update end end
-
Define the non-bang (safe) method in terms of the bang (dangerous) one if possible. [link]
class Array def flatten_once! res = [] each do |e| [*e].each { |f| res << f } end replace(res) end def flatten_once dup.flatten_once! end end
-
When defining binary operators, name the argument
other(<<and[]are exceptions to the rule, since their semantics are different). [link]def +(other) # body omitted end
Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, "How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?"
-
Write self-documenting code and ignore the rest of this section. Seriously! [link]
-
Write comments in English. [link]
-
Use one space between the leading
#character of the comment and the text of the comment. Trailing comments should have at least 2 spaces after the code and before the#. [link]# bad #this is a comment # good # This is a comment.
-
Comments longer than a word are capitalized and use punctuation. Use one space after periods. [link]
-
Avoid superfluous comments. [link]
# bad # Increments counter by one. counter += 1
-
Keep existing comments up-to-date. An outdated comment is worse than no comment at all. [link]
Good code is like a good joke - it needs no explanation.
-- Russ Olsen
-
Avoid writing comments to explain bad code. Refactor the code to make it self-explanatory. [link]
-
For comments that are more than a few words put them on the line before the code separated by a blank line.
# bad counter += 1 # Be sure the world knows we have another bean that was counted.
# better # Be sure the world knows we have another bean that was counted. counter += 1
# Best when there are multi-line comments followed by multi-line blocks of # code that the comment is about. This format is also preferable for # single line comments, but can result in a ton of vertical whitespace # that is not always helpful. Use your best judgement. # Be sure the world knows we have another bean that was counted # and plant that really awesome bean. counter += 1 awesome_bean.plant
-
Annotations should usually be written on the line above the relevant code with a blank line before the line of code (see comment vertical whitespace rules above). [link]
-
The annotation keyword is followed by a colon and a space, then a note describing the problem. [link]
-
If multiple lines are required to describe the problem, subsequent lines should be indented to line up the copy. [link]
def bar # FIXME: This has crashed occasionally since v3.2.1. It may # be related to the BarBazUtil upgrade. baz(:quux) end
-
In cases where the problem is so obvious that any documentation would be redundant, annotations may be left at the end of the offending line with no note. This usage should be the exception and not the rule. [link]
def bar sleep 100 # OPTIMIZE end
-
Use
TODOto note missing features or functionality that should be added at a later date. [link] -
Use
FIXMEto note broken code that needs to be fixed. [link] -
Use
OPTIMIZEto note slow or inefficient code that may cause performance problems. [link] -
Use
HACKto note code smells where questionable coding practices were used and should be refactored away. [link] -
Use other custom annotation keywords if it feels appropriate, but don't over do it. [link]
-
Declare classes in modules by nesting and not using :: [link]
# Bad class Vehicles::Car ... end # Good module Vehicles class Car ... end end
-
Use a consistent structure in your class definitions. [link]
class Person # extend and include go first extend SomeModule include AnotherModule # inner classes CustomErrorKlass = Class.new(StandardError) # constants are next SOME_CONSTANT = 20 # afterwards we have attribute macros attr_reader :name # followed by other macros (if any) validates :name # public class methods are next in line def self.some_method end # followed by public instance methods def some_method end # protected and private methods are grouped near the end protected def some_protected_method end private def some_private_method end end
-
Avoid nesting multi-line classes within classes. Try to have such nested classes each in their own file in a folder named like the containing class. [link]
# bad # foo.rb class Foo class Bar # 30 methods inside end class Car # 20 methods inside end # 30 methods inside end # good # foo.rb class Foo # 30 methods inside end # foo/bar.rb class Foo class Bar # 30 methods inside end end # foo/car.rb class Foo class Car # 20 methods inside end end
-
Prefer modules to classes with only class methods. Classes should be used only when it makes sense to create instances out of them. [link]
# bad class SomeClass def self.some_method # body omitted end def self.some_other_method end end # good module SomeModule module_function def some_method # body omitted end def some_other_method end end
-
Use the
attrfamily of functions to define trivial accessors or mutators. [link]# bad class Person def initialize(first_name, last_name) @first_name = first_name @last_name = last_name end def first_name @first_name end def last_name @last_name end end # good class Person attr_reader :first_name, :last_name def initialize(first_name, last_name) @first_name = first_name @last_name = last_name end end
-
Avoid the use of
attr. Useattr_readerandattr_accessorinstead. [link]# bad - creates a single attribute accessor (deprecated in 1.9) attr :something, true attr :one, :two, :three # behaves as attr_reader # good attr_accessor :something attr_reader :one, :two, :three
-
Prefer duck-typing over inheritance. [link]
# bad class Animal # abstract method def speak end end # extend superclass class Duck < Animal def speak puts 'Quack! Quack' end end # extend superclass class Dog < Animal def speak puts 'Bau! Bau!' end end # good class Duck def speak puts 'Quack! Quack' end end class Dog def speak puts 'Bau! Bau!' end end
-
Avoid the usage of class (
@@) variables due to their "nasty" behavior in inheritance. [link]class Parent @@class_var = 'parent' def self.print_class_var puts @@class_var end end class Child < Parent @@class_var = 'child' end Parent.print_class_var # => will print "child"
As you can see all the classes in a class hierarchy actually share one class variable. Class instance variables should usually be preferred over class variables.
-
Assign proper visibility levels to methods (
private,protected) in accordance with their intended usage. Don't go off leaving everythingpublic(which is the default). After all we're coding in Ruby now, not in Python. [link] -
Indent the
public,protected, andprivatemethods as much the method definitions they apply to. Leave one blank line above the visibility modifier and one blank line below in order to emphasize that it applies to all methods below it. [link]class SomeClass def public_method # ... end private def private_method # ... end def another_private_method # ... end end
-
Use
def self.methodto define singleton methods. This makes the code easier to refactor since the class name is not repeated. [link]class TestClass # bad def TestClass.some_method # body omitted end # good def self.some_other_method # body omitted end # Also possible and convenient when you # have to define many singlet on methods. class << self def first_method # body omitted end def second_method_etc # body omitted end end end
-
Signal exceptions using the
failmethod. Useraiseonly when catching an exception and re-raising it (because here you're not failing, but explicitly and purposefully raising an exception). [link]begin fail 'Oops' rescue => error raise if error.message != 'Oops' end
-
Don't specify
RuntimeErrorexplicitly in the two argument version offail/raise. [link]# bad fail RuntimeError, 'message' # good - signals a RuntimeError by default fail 'message'
-
Prefer supplying an exception class and a message as two separate arguments to
fail/raise, instead of an exception instance. [link]# bad fail SomeException.new('message') # Note that there is no way to do `fail SomeException.new('message'), backtrace`. # good fail SomeException, 'message' # Consistent with `fail SomeException, 'message', backtrace`.
-
Do not return from an
ensureblock. If you explicitly return from a method inside anensureblock, the return will take precedence over any exception being raised, and the method will return as if no exception had been raised at all. In effect, the exception will be silently thrown away. [link]def foo begin fail ensure return 'very bad idea' end end
-
Use implicit begin blocks where possible. [link]
# bad def foo begin # main logic goes here rescue # failure handling goes here end end # good def foo # main logic goes here rescue # failure handling goes here end
-
Mitigate the proliferation of
beginblocks by using contingency methods (a term coined by Avdi Grimm). [link]# bad begin something_that_might_fail rescue IOError # handle IOError end begin something_else_that_might_fail rescue IOError # handle IOError end # good def with_io_error_handling yield rescue IOError # handle IOError end with_io_error_handling { something_that_might_fail } with_io_error_handling { something_else_that_might_fail }
-
Don't suppress exceptions!! [link]
# bad begin # an exception occurs here rescue SomeError # the rescue clause does absolutely nothing end # bad do_something rescue nil
-
Avoid using
rescuein its modifier form. [link]# bad - this catches exceptions of StandardError class and its descendant classes read_file rescue handle_error($!) # good - this catches only the exceptions of Errno::ENOENT class and its descendant classes def foo read_file rescue Errno::ENOENT => ex handle_error(ex) end
-
Don't use exceptions for flow of control. [link]
# bad begin n / d rescue ZeroDivisionError puts 'Cannot divide by 0!' end # good if d.zero? puts 'Cannot divide by 0!' else n / d end
-
Avoid rescuing the
Exceptionclass. This will trap signals and calls toexit, requiring you tokill -9the process. [link]# bad begin # calls to exit and kill signals will be caught (except kill -9) exit rescue Exception puts "you didn't really want to exit, right?" # exception handling end # good if you must (catching everything is bad) begin # a blind rescue rescues from StandardError, not Exception as many # programmers assume. rescue => e # exception handling end # also good if you must (catching everything is bad) begin # an exception occurs here rescue StandardError => e # exception handling end
-
Put more specific exceptions higher up the rescue chain, otherwise they'll never be rescued from. [link]
# bad begin # some code rescue Exception => e # some handling rescue StandardError => e # some handling that will never be executed end # good begin # some code rescue StandardError => e # some handling rescue Exception => e # some handling end
-
Release external resources obtained by your program in an ensure block. [link]
f = File.open('testfile') begin # .. process rescue # .. handle error ensure f.close if f end
-
Favor the use of exceptions for the standard library over introducing new exception classes. [link]
-
Prefer literal array and hash creation notation (unless you need to pass parameters to their constructors, that is). [link]
# bad arr = Array.new hash = Hash.new # good arr = [] hash = {}
-
Prefer
%wto the literal array syntax when you need an array of words (non-empty strings without spaces and special characters in them). Apply this rule only to arrays with two or more elements. [link]# bad STATES = ['draft', 'open', 'closed'] # good STATES = %w(draft open closed)
-
Prefer
%ito the literal array syntax when you need an array of symbols (and you don't need to maintain Ruby 1.9 compatibility). Apply this rule only to arrays with two or more elements. [link]# okay, but not great STATES = [:draft, :open, :closed] # good STATES = %i(draft open closed)
-
Avoid comma after the last item of an
ArrayorHashliteral, especially when the items are not on separate lines. [link]# bad - easier to move/add/remove items, but still not preferred VALUES = [ 1001, 2020, 3333, ] # bad VALUES = [1001, 2020, 3333, ] # good VALUES = [1001, 2020, 3333]
-
Avoid the creation of huge gaps in arrays. [link]
arr = [] arr[100] = 1 # now you have an array with lots of nils
-
When accessing the first or last element from an array, prefer
firstorlastover[0]or[-1]. [link] -
Use
Setinstead ofArraywhen dealing with unique elements.Setimplements a collection of unordered values with no duplicates. This is a hybrid ofArray's intuitive inter-operation facilities andHash's fast lookup. [link] -
Prefer symbols instead of strings as hash keys. [link]
# bad hash = { 'one' => 1, 'two' => 2, 'three' => 3 } # good hash = { one: 1, two: 2, three: 3 }
-
Avoid the use of mutable objects as hash keys. [link]
-
Use the Ruby 1.9 hash literal syntax when your hash keys are symbols. [link]
# bad hash = { :one => 1, :two => 2, :three => 3 } # good hash = { one: 1, two: 2, three: 3 }
-
Don't mix the Ruby 1.9 hash syntax with hash rockets in the same hash literal. When you've got keys that are not symbols stick to the hash rockets syntax. [link]
# bad { a: 1, 'b' => 2 } # good { :a => 1, 'b' => 2 }
-
Use
Hash#key?instead ofHash#has_key?andHash#value?instead ofHash#has_value?. As noted here by Matz, the longer forms are considered deprecated. [link]# bad hash.has_key?(:test) hash.has_value?(value) # good hash.key?(:test) hash.value?(value)
-
Use
Hash#fetchwhen dealing with hash keys that should be present. [link]heroes = { batman: 'Bruce Wayne', superman: 'Clark Kent' } # bad - if we make a mistake we might not spot it right away heroes[:batman] # => "Bruce Wayne" heroes[:supermann] # => nil # good - fetch raises a KeyError making the problem obvious heroes.fetch(:supermann)
-
Introduce default values for hash keys via
Hash#fetchas opposed to using custom logic. [link]batman = { name: 'Bruce Wayne', is_evil: false } # bad - if we just use || operator with falsy value we won't get the expected result batman[:is_evil] || true # => true # good - fetch work correctly with falsy values batman.fetch(:is_evil, true) # => false
-
Prefer the use of the block instead of the default value in
Hash#fetch. [link]batman = { name: 'Bruce Wayne' } # bad - if we use the default value, we eager evaluate it # so it can slow the program down if done multiple times batman.fetch(:powers, get_batman_powers) # get_batman_powers is an expensive call # good - blocks are lazy evaluated, so only triggered in case of KeyError exception batman.fetch(:powers) { get_batman_powers }
-
Rely on the fact that as of Ruby 1.9 hashes are ordered. [link]
-
Do not modify a collection while traversing it. [link]
-
Prefer string interpolation instead of string concatenation: [link]
# bad email_with_name = user.name + ' <' + user.email + '>' # good email_with_name = "#{user.name} <#{user.email}>"
-
Do not pad string interpolation code with spaces. [link]
# bad "#{ user.last_name }, #{ user.first_name }"
-
Prefer single-quoted strings when you don't need string interpolation or special symbols such as
\t,\n,', etc. [link]# bad name = "Bozhidar" # good name = 'Bozhidar'
-
Don't leave out
{}around instance and global variables being interpolated into a string. [link]class Person attr_reader :first_name, :last_name def initialize(first_name, last_name) @first_name = first_name @last_name = last_name end # bad - valid, but awkward def to_s "#@first_name #@last_name" end # good def to_s "#{@first_name} #{@last_name}" end end $global = 0 # bad puts "$global = #$global" # good puts "$global = #{$global}"
-
Don't use
Object#to_son interpolated objects. It's invoked on them automatically. [link]# bad message = "This is the #{result.to_s}." # good message = "This is the #{result}."
-
Avoid using
String#+when you need to construct large data chunks. Instead, useString#<<. Concatenation mutates the string instance in-place and is always faster thanString#+, which creates a bunch of new string objects. [link]# good and also fast html = '' html << '<h1>Page title</h1>' paragraphs.each do |paragraph| html << "<p>#{paragraph}</p>" end
-
When using heredocs for multi-line strings keep in mind the fact that they preserve leading whitespace. It's a good practice to employ some margin based on which to trim the excessive whitespace. [link]
code = <<-END.gsub(/^\s+\|/, '') |def test | some_method | other_method |end END # => "def test\n some_method\n other_method\nend\n"
Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions." Now they have two problems.
-- Jamie Zawinski
-
Don't use regular expressions if you just need plain text search in string:
string['text'][link] -
For simple constructions you can use regexp directly through string index. [link]
match = string[/regexp/] # get content of matched regexp first_group = string[/text(grp)/, 1] # get content of captured group string[/text (grp)/, 1] = 'replace' # string => 'text replace'
-
Use non-capturing groups when you don't use captured result of parentheses. [link]
/(first|second)/ # bad /(?:first|second)/ # good
-
Don't use the cryptic Perl-legacy variables denoting last regexp group matches (
$1,$2, etc). UseRegexp.last_match[n]instead. [link]/(regexp)/ =~ string ... # bad process $1 # good process Regexp.last_match[1]
-
Avoid using numbered groups as it can be hard to track what they contain. Named groups can be used instead. [link]
# bad /(regexp)/ =~ string ... process Regexp.last_match[1] # good /(?<meaningful_var>regexp)/ =~ string ... process meaningful_var
-
Character classes have only a few special characters you should care about:
^,-,\,], so don't escape.or brackets in[]. [link] -
Be careful with
^and$as they match start/end of line, not string endings. If you want to match the whole string use:\Aand\z(not to be confused with\Zwhich is the equivalent of/\n?\z/). [link]string = "some injection\nusername" string[/^username$/] # matches string[/\Ausername\z/] # doesn't match
-
Use
xmodifier for complex regexps. This makes them more readable and you can add some useful comments. Just be careful as spaces are ignored. [link]regexp = / start # some text \s # white space char (group) # first group (?:alt1|alt2) # some alternation end /x
-
For complex replacements
sub/gsubcan be used with block or hash. [link]
-
Use
%()(it's a shorthand for%Q) for single-line strings which require both interpolation and embedded double-quotes. For multi-line strings, prefer heredocs. [link]# bad (no interpolation needed) %(<div class="text">Some text</div>) # should be '<div class="text">Some text</div>' # bad (no double-quotes) %(This is #{quality} style) # should be "This is #{quality} style" # bad (multiple lines) %(<div>\n<span class="big">#{exclamation}</span>\n</div>) # should be a heredoc. # good (requires interpolation, has quotes, single line) %(<tr><td class="name">#{name}</td>)
-
Avoid
%qunless you have a string with both'and"in it. Regular string literals are more readable and should be preferred unless a lot of characters would have to be escaped in them. [link]# bad name = %q(Bruce Wayne) time = %q(8 o'clock) question = %q("What did you say?") # good name = 'Bruce Wayne' time = "8 o'clock" question = '"What did you say?"'
-
Use
%ronly for regular expressions matching more than one '/' character. [link]# bad %r(\s+) # still bad %r(^/(.*)$) # should be /^\/(.*)$/ # good %r(^/blog/2011/(.*)$)
-
Avoid the use of
%xunless you're going to invoke a command with backquotes in it(which is rather unlikely). [link]# bad date = %x(date) # good date = `date` echo = %x(echo `date`)
-
Avoid the use of
%s. It seems that the community has decided:"some string"is the preferred way to create a symbol with spaces in it. [link] -
Prefer
()as delimiters for all%literals, except%r. Since parentheses often appear inside regular expressions in many scenarios a less common character like{might be a better choice for a delimiter, depending on the regexp's content. [link]# bad %w[one two three] %q{"Test's king!", John said.} # good %w(one two three) %q("Test's king!", John said.)
-
Avoid needless metaprogramming. [link]
-
Do not mess around in core classes when writing libraries. (Do not monkey-patch them.) [link]
-
The block form of
class_evalis preferable to the string-interpolated form. - when you use the string-interpolated form, always supply__FILE__and__LINE__, so that your backtraces make sense: [link]class_eval 'def use_relative_model_naming?; true; end', __FILE__, __LINE__
define_methodis preferable toclass_eval{ def ... }
-
When using
class_eval(or othereval) with string interpolation, add a comment block showing its appearance if interpolated (a practice used in Rails code): [link]# from activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/output_safety.rb UNSAFE_STRING_METHODS.each do |unsafe_method| if 'String'.respond_to?(unsafe_method) class_eval <<-EOT, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1 def #{unsafe_method}(*args, &block) # def capitalize(*args, &block) to_str.#{unsafe_method}(*args, &block) # to_str.capitalize(*args, &block) end # end def #{unsafe_method}!(*args) # def capitalize!(*args) @dirty = true # @dirty = true super # super end # end EOT end end
-
Avoid using
method_missingfor metaprogramming because backtraces become messy, the behavior is not listed in#methods, and misspelled method calls might silently work, e.g.nukes.launch_state = false. Consider using delegation, proxy, ordefine_methodinstead. If you must usemethod_missing: [link]-
Be sure to also define
respond_to_missing? -
Only catch methods with a well-defined prefix, such as
find_by_*-- make your code as assertive as possible. -
Call
superat the end of your statement -
Delegate to assertive, non-magical methods:
# bad def method_missing?(meth, *args, &block) if /^find_by_(?<prop>.*)/ =~ meth # ... lots of code to do a find_by else super end end # good def method_missing?(meth, *args, &block) if /^find_by_(?<prop>.*)/ =~ meth find_by(prop, *args, &block) else super end end # best of all, though, would to define_method as each findable attribute is declared
-
-
Avoid methods longer than 12 LOC (lines of code). Ideally, most methods will be shorter than 5 LOC. Empty lines do not contribute to the relevant LOC. [link]
-
Avoid parameter lists longer than three parameters. Use options hash. [link]
-
Use module instance variables instead of global variables. [link]
# bad $foo_bar = 1 # good module Foo class << self attr_accessor :bar end end Foo.bar = 1
-
Avoid
aliaswhenalias_methodwill do. [link] -
Prefer
Time.nowoverTime.newwhen retrieving the current system time. [link] -
Do not mutate arguments unless that is the purpose of the method. [link]
-
Avoid more than three levels of block nesting. [link]
-
Be consistent. In an ideal world, be consistent with these guidelines. [link]
-
Use common sense. [link]