Initialize method as constructor in Ruby - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Initialize Method as Constructor

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are creating a simple program to keep track of books in a library. Each book has a title and an author.

🎯 Goal: You will build a Ruby class called Book that uses the initialize method as a constructor to set the title and author when a new book is created.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a class named Book

Add an initialize method that takes two parameters: title and author

Inside initialize, set instance variables @title and @author using the parameters

Create an instance of Book with the title 'The Ruby Way' and author 'Hal Fulton'

Print the book's title and author using the instance variables

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Constructors like <code>initialize</code> help set up objects with needed data right when they are created, just like filling out a form when you get a new library card.

💼 Career

Understanding constructors is essential for building classes and objects in Ruby, a key skill for Ruby developers working on web apps, automation, and more.

1

Create the Book class

Create a class called Book with no methods or variables yet.

Ruby

# Create a class called Book
class Book
end

Need a hint?

Use class Book to start the class and end to finish it.

2

Add the initialize method

Inside the Book class, add an initialize method that takes two parameters: title and author. Inside this method, set the instance variables @title and @author to the values of title and author respectively.

Ruby

class Book
  # Add initialize method with parameters title and author
  def initialize(title, author)
    # Your code here
  end
end

Need a hint?

Use def initialize(title, author) and set @title = title and @author = author.

3

Create a Book instance

Create a variable called my_book and assign it a new Book object with the title 'The Ruby Way' and author 'Hal Fulton'.

Ruby

class Book
  def initialize(title, author)
    @title = title
    @author = author
  end
end

# Create a new Book instance called my_book
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use my_book = Book.new('The Ruby Way', 'Hal Fulton') to create the book.

4

Print the book details

Print the title and author of my_book using puts and the instance variables @title and @author. Use string interpolation to format the output as: "Title: The Ruby Way, Author: Hal Fulton".

Ruby

class Book
  def initialize(title, author)
    @title = title
    @author = author
  end
end

my_book = Book.new('The Ruby Way', 'Hal Fulton')

# Print the book's title and author
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use puts "Title: #{my_book.instance_variable_get(:@title)}, Author: #{my_book.instance_variable_get(:@author)}" to print the details.