Ruby Range printing out extra

Question

I'm new to coding so please free to point out any errors in the way I refer to code.

rows = 5
 (1..rows).each do |n|
  print n, ' '
end

This prints out what I expect it to: 1 2 3 4 5 .

But, when I put it into a method:

def test(rows)
  (1..rows).each do |n|
   print n, ' '
 end
end

puts test(5)

I get 1 2 3 4 5 1..5 .

Why does the 1..5 show up? And how do I get rid of it?

I need it in the method because I plan to add more code to it.

Answer 1

each on a Range returns the range after the looping is done, and you're probably printing the return value of test too.

Just run test(5) instead of puts test(5) or something.

Answer 2

Ruby always returns the last line of any function.

You are executing puts test(5) , and test(5) prints the data you expect, and the extra puts prints out the data returned by test(5) method.

Hope that answers your question.

Answer 3

The final 1..5 is the return value from the script. You get that when you run the code in IRB. When you run that as a standalone Ruby script, it will not show up, so you do not need to worry about it.

Answer 4

A Ruby function will return the last statement, in your case 1..5 . To illustrate I'll give it a different return value:

def test(rows)
  (1..rows).each {|n| puts "#{ n } "}
  return 'mashbash'
end

# Just the function invokation, only the function will print something
test(5) # => "1 2 3 4 5 "

# Same as above, plus printing the return value of test(5)
puts test(5) # => "1 2 3 4 5 mashbash"

You could write your example a little differently to achieve what you like:

def second_test(rows)
  # Cast range to an array
  array = (1..rows).to_a # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  array.join(', ') # "1, 2, 3, 4, 5", and it is the last statement => return value
end

# Print the return value ("1, 2, 3, 4, 5") from the second_test function
p second_test(5) 
# => "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"