Can we do `a = b || c` in Ruby?

Question

I would like to know if we can express "if the first is null, then choose the second."

foo = bar || doe 
#if bar is nil, foo = doe

Answer 1

Sure. It works as expected:

bar = nil
doe = "Hello"
foo = bar || doe
# => "Hello"

Answer 2

well, yea. a ||= b is the equivalent of a = a || b if the first element is nil or false then the result is the second element.