Stopping an Iteration in Ruby

Defining Iterators

The syntax for defining an iterator is:

collection.iterator do |variable|
	# Statement
end

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Example

array = [1,2,3,4,5]
print "Iterator result - \n"
array.each do |var|
   print var
   print " "
end

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Output

Problem Statement 

We have already learned about the different types of iterators and how to define them. So now come to the main topic, i.e., Stopping an iteration in Ruby. The need for stopping an iteration in Ruby occurs when we want to interrupt the execution of the code. 

Let's discuss how to solve this problem of solving an iteration in Ruby. 

Break Statement

In ruby, we can use the "break" statement for stopping an iteration. A break statement is the simplest way of stopping an iteration in ruby. Mostly break statement is used in the while loop. All the values are printed till the loop condition is true, or the condition for the break statement is false. 

Syntax -

Example 

i = 1
puts "Cubes till 150"
while true
    print i 
    print " Cube = " 
    puts i * i * i
	i += 1
	if i * i * i >= 150
		# Using Break Statement
		break
	end 
end

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Output

Explanation 

In this code, we have used a break statement to check if the cube of a number is greater than 150, then no more statements will be executed further, although the condition in the while loop is still true. 
 

Although using a break statement is an efficient solution for stopping an iteration in ruby, it would not work when we want to stop the current iteration. So for that ‘Next statement’ can be used. 

Next Statement

The next statement is also used for stopping an iteration in ruby, but unlike the break statement, it will not stop the whole iteration; instead, it just stops the current iteration if the condition becomes true.

Syntax -

Example

puts "Number after three"
for x in 0..6
    if x < 4 then
        # Using the next statement
next
end

# Printing values
puts "Value of x is : #{x}"
end

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Output

Explanation 

In the above code, we have used the next statement to jump to the next iteration if the number is less than four, so the statements below the ‘next’ are not executed. As 0, 1, 2, 3 are less than 4 so for all these numbers print statement will not be executed. This will save compilation time. 

Hopefully, you have understood the solution for stopping an iteration in ruby. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you mean by Ruby?

Ruby is a high-level, interpreted, general-purpose programming language that supports multiple programming paradigms.

What is an iterator in Ruby?

Iterators are object-oriented concepts and are used for performing these iterations in Ruby. Iterators are supported by collections and help in returning all the elements of a collection.

What is the defining an iterator in ruby?

Syntax is collection.iterator do |variable| followed by end to close it. 

Which statement is used for stopping an iteration in Ruby?

A break statement is used for stopping an iteration in ruby. 

What is the next statement used for?

The next statement is used to skip all the rest of the current iteration statement block and jump to the next iteration statement. 

Conclusion

This blog covered the details on stopping an iteration in ruby. We learned what iteration and iterators are, how to define iterators, and what is used for stopping an iteration in ruby, along with examples.

If you want to learn more, check out our articles/blogs on ruby and refer to Ruby Documentation for more information. You can also learn more about ruby from the links given below.

• Rubykoans
• Boolean in Ruby
• Symbols in Ruby
   

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