I have a bad habit of memorizing syntax for a given language and never really understanding what is going on. Frameworks make it easy to ignore all the things going on in the background and I want to get out of the habit.

Ruby rails uses a templating system called eRuby also known as embedded ruby or ERB. When a file has an erb extension, ruby knows to evaluate all code within a ruby tag. There are two types of tags that lets ruby know to evaluate content. First is the <% tag which will run the code as a scriplet. Scriptlets are typically used for if statements or for loops. they do not produce an output, rather it allows for logic to be used for controlling the UI.

The other is <%= which is known as an expression and outputs the content as html. This tag will also evaluate logic on top of producing output. It is good practice not to use this type of tag unless the line of code is specific for producing an output.

Ruby Version

the current version of Ruby is 2.5.1

Ruby Interpreter

The original interpreter for Ruby is Matz (aka MRI), named after Yukihiro Matsumoto, the ruby creator. Matz last stable version is back in 1.8.7 in 2013.

Yukihiro Matsumoto

The Ruby Name

it came from an online chat exchange between Matsumoto and Keiju Ishitsuka in 93. Matsumoto chose Ruby because it is the birthstone of one of his collegues.

Ruby Instance Variables

To pass a values to a view, such as query results, we use pre-fix a variable with the @ symbol. This will make it a instance variable which is accessible to the view. Instance variables are only accessible to the object self.

Object Self

Self is a way of references the object that owns the code that is executing.

For the project I am working on, I had to read up on documentation for best practices when it comes to creating a link using ruby rails. The link_to is a method found in the URL Helper. According to the ruby documenation ‘It provides a set of methods for making links and getting URL’s that depend on the routing subsystem’.