Implicit return (last expression) in Ruby - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Implicit return (last expression)

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are creating a simple calculator function in Ruby that adds two numbers. Ruby automatically returns the value of the last expression in a method without needing an explicit return statement.

🎯 Goal: Build a Ruby method that adds two numbers and returns the result using implicit return (last expression).

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a method named add_numbers that takes two parameters: a and b.

Inside the method, add a and b without using the return keyword.

Call the add_numbers method with the numbers 5 and 7.

Print the result of the method call.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Implicit return makes Ruby code shorter and easier to read, especially for simple calculations or data processing.

💼 Career

Understanding implicit return helps you write clean Ruby methods, a skill useful in web development with Ruby on Rails and scripting.

1

Create the add_numbers method with parameters

Write a method named add_numbers that takes two parameters called a and b.

Ruby

# Define the add_numbers method with parameters a and b
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use def to start a method and end to finish it.

2

Add a and b inside the method without return

Inside the add_numbers method, write an expression that adds a and b without using the return keyword.

Ruby

def add_numbers(a, b)
  # Add a and b here without using return
  # Your code here
end

Need a hint?

Just write a + b as the last line inside the method.

3

Call the add_numbers method with 5 and 7

Call the add_numbers method with arguments 5 and 7 and save the result in a variable named result.

Ruby

def add_numbers(a, b)
  a + b
end

# Call add_numbers with 5 and 7 and save to result
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use result = add_numbers(5, 7) to call the method and store the answer.

4

Print the result

Write a puts statement to print the value stored in result.

Ruby

def add_numbers(a, b)
  a + b
end

result = add_numbers(5, 7)

# Print the result
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use puts result to show the answer on the screen.