Named routes and path helpers in Ruby on Rails - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ component_behavior

intermediate

What is the output of this Rails view helper call?

Given the following route in config/routes.rb:

resources :articles

What does article_path(5) return?

A "/articles/5"

B "/articles/show/5"

C "/article/5"

D "/articles?id=5"

💡 Hint

Think about the RESTful route generated by resources :articles for the show action.

The resources :articles creates RESTful routes. The article_path(5) helper generates the path to show the article with ID 5, which is /articles/5.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which option correctly defines a named route with a custom path helper?

You want to create a route for /profile that maps to users#show and use the helper profile_path. Which route definition is correct?

A get '/profile', to: 'users#show', as: :profile

B get '/profile', controller: 'users', action: 'show', helper: :profile

C match '/profile' => 'users#show', as: 'profile_path'

D get '/profile', to: 'users#show', name: :profile

💡 Hint

The as: option defines the named route helper.

Option A correctly uses get with to: and as: to define the named route profile_path.

❓ state_output

advanced

What is the value of edit_article_path(@article) if @article.id = 10?

Assuming standard RESTful routes for articles, what path does edit_article_path(@article) generate?

A "/articles/10/edit_article"

B "/articles/edit/10"

C "/articles/10/edit"

D "/edit/articles/10"

💡 Hint

The edit route for a resource appends /edit after the resource ID.

The edit_article_path(@article) helper generates the path to edit the article with ID 10, which is /articles/10/edit.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this route helper call raise an error?

Given the route resources :comments, what error occurs when calling comment_path without arguments?

Ruby on Rails

comment_path

A NoMethodError: undefined method 'comment_path'

B ArgumentError: missing required keys: [:id]

C NameError: uninitialized constant CommentPath

D RuntimeError: route not found

💡 Hint

Show and other member routes require an ID argument.

The comment_path helper requires an ID to generate the path for a specific comment. Calling it without arguments raises an ArgumentError about missing keys.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which option correctly explains the difference between *_path and *_url helpers?

In Rails, what is the main difference between article_path(1) and article_url(1)?

A <code>article_path(1)</code> is used only in views, <code>article_url(1)</code> only in controllers.

B <code>article_path(1)</code> returns the full URL, and <code>article_url(1)</code> returns only the path.

C <code>article_path(1)</code> generates a GET request, <code>article_url(1)</code> generates a POST request.

D <code>article_path(1)</code> returns a relative path like <code>/articles/1</code>, while <code>article_url(1)</code> returns the full URL including protocol and host, like <code>http://localhost:3000/articles/1</code>.

💡 Hint

Think about what the browser needs to navigate to a page versus what you might send in an email.

_path helpers generate relative paths suitable for links within the app. _url helpers generate full URLs including protocol and host, useful for emails or redirects.