Question

if ...
  o = User
elseif ...
  o = Car


o.send(:count) = 100
o.send(:is_high) = true

o.save!

I want to reduce the duplicate code, is this ok to do?

I will have tests for this in case property names change etc.

Answer 1

Doing o.send(:count) = 100 will give you a syntax error so presumably you really mean this:

o.send(:count=, 100)
o.send(:is_high=, true)

Yes, that’s fine but will leave the people maintaining your code scratching their heads and wondering why didn’t just do this:

o.count   = 100
o.is_high = true

You usually only use send when you don’t know the method name until run time:

m = want_pancakes ? :pancakes : :eggs
o.send(m, true)