Question

In the Rails views, I regularly find lines like:

<%= my_var %>

What if I had a slightly more complex situation and I needed to trigger the printing with plain code instead of <%= %>?

Example:

<% .....
puts my_var
%>

I guess is a silly question but bear with me, I’m a ruby beginner.

Answer 1

Look at documentation of ERB

In <% %> you put expressions that are not for printing out.

In <%= %> you put code for printing out.

Example:

<% if @cost < 10 %>
  <b>Only <%= @cost %>!!!</b>
<% else %>
  Call for a price, today!
<% end %>