Are you able to assign strings to true and false?
for example I'm starting with a hash:
shopping_list = { "milk" => false, "eggs" => false, "jalapenos" => true } puts "Here is your Shopping List:" shopping_list.each do |key, value| puts "#{key} - #{value}" end I was wanting the output to puts "purchased" for true and "not purchased" for false.
Does this answersed your question?
shopping_list.each do |key, value| puts "#{key} - #{purchased?(value)}" end def purchased?(boolean) boolean ? 'purchased' : 'not purchased' end 
if boolean then 'purchased' else 'not purchased' end
Use an inline if or a ternary if operator:
shopping_list = { "milk" => false, "eggs" => false, "jalapenos" => true } puts "Here is your Shopping List:" shopping_list.each do |key, value| puts "#{key} - #{if value then 'purchased' else 'not purchased' end}" # or this: # puts "#{key} - #{value ? 'purchased' : 'not purchased'}" end Prints:
Here is your Shopping List: milk - not purchased eggs - not purchased jalapenos - purchased Which operator to use: ternary operator (?:) or if/then/else/end?
I chose here if/then/else/end, but listed both options as acceptable. It is a matter of style which one you choose.
Some Stack Overflow Ruby users prefer to use a regular if ... then ... else ... end. It is longer, but more clear and more idiomatic. See, for example, these answers:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/2175392/967621
https://stackoverflow.com/a/4253250/967621
Other Stack Overflow users prefer ?:, which is more concise and clear, if you are used to it. Also note that The Ruby Style Guide agrees:
Prefer the ternary operator(
?:) overif/then/else/endconstructs. It’s more common and obviously more concise.
# bad result = if some_condition then something else something_else end # good result = some_condition ? something : something_else puts "#{key} - #{if value then 'purchased' else 'not purchased' end}"
if/then/else/end instead of the ?:.
if/then/else/end vs ?:" would be closed on SO as opinion-based. But I could be wrong - maybe it is worth to try and post this Q to get a few more good answers?I was wanting the output to puts "purchased" for true and "not purchased" for false.
You'd typically start with an if expression:
shopping_list.each do |key, value| if value puts "#{key} - purchased" else puts "#{key} - not purchased" end end Later on, you can try to remove the duplicate code parts.
Are you able to assign strings to true and false?
That sounds like a mapping. You can use another hash:
states = { true => 'purchased', false => 'not purchased' } And refer to that hash when printing your shopping list:
shopping_list.each do |key, value| puts "#{key} - #{states[value]}" end Here, states[value] fetches the output value for value from the states hash.