Question

Is it possible to write a function that takes a block of strings, does something with the strings, and then returns an array with the strings?

def collect_string(&block)
   # just toss them into an array and return it
   return ...
end

a = collect_string {
   "string 1"
   "string 2"
   "string 3"
}

When I print out what a is, I should get

["string 1", "string2", "string3"]

Now suppose I decided to change my mind and wanted to do something more with the strings first. Maybe I want to remove all of the vowels first, or just grab the first 3 characters.

Answer 1

This is really not what the blocks are for. You’re going to make an array of strings anyway, so why not use an array to begin with?

def collect_string &block
  v = block.call
  # do something with v
end

# block returning array
a = collect_string {[
   "string 1",
   "string 2",
   "string 3"
]}

If you use a block as in your example then it will return only “string 3”, the last expression evaluated. Previous strings are lost.