CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rubyoperators
bw_qa
bw_qa

Reputation: 33

In Ruby, why is && working while || isn't in my sample code?

In my sample code, I'm trying to replace any words in 'text' that match with either 'redact' or 'redact_again'. Since it's an either/or scenario, I thought || would be used. It turns out that && actually works. If both or either one match, it replaces them with the word "Redacted" properly. If it doesn't find a match, it just reprints the 'text' as it should. I just want to understand why using || doesn't work in an either/or scenario? 

puts "Tell me a sentence"
text = gets.chomp.downcase
puts "Redact this word: "
redact = gets.chomp.downcase
puts "And redact another word: "
redact_another = gets.chomp.downcase

words = text.split(" ")
words.each do |x|
 if x != redact && x != redact_another
 print x + " "
 else
 print "REDACTED "
 end
end

Upvotes: 2

Views: 167

Answers (2)

originalhat
originalhat

Reputation: 1716

It's a boolean condtion that causes this to happen.

Boolean values are either a 0 or 1.

  • When && is used BOTH variables must be 1 to be true.
  • When || is used EITHER variables must be 1 to be true.

Inverting the logic implies that the following two statements are logically correct:

(x == redact || x == redact_another) == (if x != redact && x != redact_another)

Nifty.

Upvotes: 0

Salil
Salil

Reputation: 47472

Following should work

 if x == redact || x == redact_another
   print "REDACTED "
 else
   print x + " "
 end

OR 

 print [redact, redact_another].include?(x) ? "REDACTED " : x + " "

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions