This explanation is based on a commented Ruby script from a friend of mine. If you want to improve the script, feel free to update it at the link.
First, note that when Ruby calls out to a shell, it typically calls /bin/sh
, not Bash. Some Bash syntax is not supported by /bin/sh
on all systems.
Here are ways to execute a shell script:
cmd = "echo 'hi'" # Sample string that can be used
Kernel#`
, commonly called backticks – `cmd`
This is like many other languages, including Bash, PHP, and Perl.
Returns the result (i.e. standard output) of the shell command.
Docs: http://ruby-doc.org/core/Kernel.html#method-i-60
value = `echo 'hi'`
value = `#{cmd}`
Built-in syntax, %x( cmd )
Following the x
character is a delimiter, which can be any character.
If the delimiter is one of the characters (
, [
, {
, or <
,
the literal consists of the characters up to the matching closing delimiter,
taking account of nested delimiter pairs. For all other delimiters, the
literal comprises the characters up to the next occurrence of the
delimiter character. String interpolation #{ ... }
is allowed.
Returns the result (i.e. standard output) of the shell command, just like the backticks.
Docs: https://docs.ruby-lang.org/en/master/syntax/literals_rdoc.html#label-Percent+Strings
value = %x( echo 'hi' )
value = %x[ #{cmd} ]
Kernel#system
Executes the given command in a subshell.
Returns true
if the command was found and run successfully, false
otherwise.
Docs: http://ruby-doc.org/core/Kernel.html#method-i-system
wasGood = system( "echo 'hi'" )
wasGood = system( cmd )
Kernel#exec
Replaces the current process by running the given external command.
Returns none, the current process is replaced and never continues.
Docs: http://ruby-doc.org/core/Kernel.html#method-i-exec
exec( "echo 'hi'" )
exec( cmd ) # Note: this will never be reached because of the line above
Here's some extra advice:
$?
, which is the same as $CHILD_STATUS
, accesses the status of the last system executed command if you use the backticks, system()
or %x{}
.
You can then access the exitstatus
and pid
properties:
$?.exitstatus
For more reading see:
Currying is converting a single function of n arguments into n functions with a single argument each. Given the following function:
function f(x,y,z) { z(x(y));}
When curried, becomes:
function f(x) { lambda(y) { lambda(z) { z(x(y)); } } }
In order to get the full application of f(x,y,z), you need to do this:
f(x)(y)(z);
Many functional languages let you write f x y z
. If you only call f x y
or f(x)(y) then you get a partially-applied function—the return value is a closure of lambda(z){z(x(y))}
with passed-in the values of x and y to f(x,y)
.
One way to use partial application is to define functions as partial applications of generalized functions, like fold:
function fold(combineFunction, accumulator, list) {/* ... */}
function sum = curry(fold)(lambda(accum,e){e+accum}))(0);
function length = curry(fold)(lambda(accum,_){1+accum})(empty-list);
function reverse = curry(fold)(lambda(accum,e){concat(e,accum)})(empty-list);
/* ... */
@list = [1, 2, 3, 4]
sum(list) //returns 10
@f = fold(lambda(accum,e){e+accum}) //f = lambda(accumulator,list) {/*...*/}
f(0,list) //returns 10
@g = f(0) //same as sum
g(list) //returns 10
Best Answer
So here's how to do currying with blocks, rather than methods:
And it works fairly well in practice. Arguments can be curried or not, and extra arguments are collected as usual:
I made the design decision to have no-arg blocks return an immediate value on currying:
This is necessary to avoid having to end currying with a
[]
every time (and is fairly Haskell-like).