Why operators are methods in Ruby

Introduction

In Ruby, operators like + or - are actually methods. This means you can use them like normal commands that objects understand. It makes Ruby very flexible and easy to change how things work.

When you want to add two numbers or combine two strings.

When you want to compare two objects to see if they are equal.

When you want to customize how your own objects behave with operators.

When you want to make your code look clean and natural using symbols like + or -.

When you want to reuse existing methods but with operator symbols for easier reading.

Syntax

Ruby

object + other_object
object - other_object
object * other_object
# These are method calls like object.+(other_object)

Operators like + are actually method calls behind the scenes.

You can define these methods yourself in your own classes to change how operators work.

Examples

Using + to add numbers or join strings.

Ruby

5 + 3
"hello" + " world"

Same as above but showing + as a method call.

Ruby

5.+(3)
"hello".+(" world")

Defining + method in your own class to customize operator behavior.

Ruby

class Box
  def +(other)
    "Combining boxes"
  end
end

box1 = Box.new
box2 = Box.new
puts box1 + box2

Sample Program

This program shows how + is a method. We create a Number class and define + to add values inside. Then we add two Number objects and print the result.

Ruby

class Number
  def initialize(value)
    @value = value
  end

  def +(other)
    Number.new(@value + other.value)
  end

  def value
    @value
  end
end

num1 = Number.new(10)
num2 = Number.new(5)
result = num1 + num2
puts result.value

Important Notes

Remember, operators are just methods with special names.

You can override operators to make your objects work naturally with symbols like + or -.

This makes Ruby very flexible and easy to read.

Summary

Operators in Ruby are methods you can call on objects.

This lets you customize how operators work for your own objects.

It makes code cleaner and more natural to read.