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[New Concept]: Range #1569

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7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions concepts/ranges/.meta/config.json
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{
"blurb": "Ruby has a Range object which represents an interval between two values.",
"authors": [
"meatball133"
],
"contributors": []
}
125 changes: 125 additions & 0 deletions concepts/ranges/about.md
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# Ranges

[Ranges][ranges] represents an interval between two values.
The most common types that support ranges are `Int` and `String`.
They can be used for many things like quickly creating a collection, slicing strings, checking if a value is in a range and iteration.
They are created using the range operator `..` or `...` (inclusive and exclusive respectively).

```ruby
1..5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1...5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4
```
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The return is not what this statement returns, as we can see. Using IRB, since IRB "evaluated" syntax is being used here in the code example:

Suggested change
```ruby
1..5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1...5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4
```
In IRB:
```ruby
>> (1..5)
=> 1..5
>> (1...5)
=> 1...5
```

What do you think? The return is not like it would be with an Array.

Probably not in this section, but we can coerce this to an Array to show what is originally here:

>> (1..5).to_a
=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
>> (1...5).to_a
=> [1, 2, 3, 4]


The reason for having two range operators is to allow to create ranges that are inclusive or exclusive of the end value, which can be useful when for example working with indexes, that are zero based.

Ranges can also be created using the `Range` initializer.

```ruby
Range.new(1, 5) # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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```
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Suggested change
Ranges can also be created using the `Range` initializer.
```ruby
Range.new(1, 5) # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
```
Ranges can also be created using the `Range` initializer.
Exploring in IRB:
```ruby
>> Range.new(1, 5)
=> 1..5


````exercism/note
When creating a range in Ruby using the range operators `..` or `...`, and wanting to call a method on the range, you need to wrap the range in parentheses.
This is because the otherwise will the method be called on the 2nd argument of the range operator.

```ruby
(1..5).sum # => 15
1..5.sum # => Error: undefined method `sum' for 5:Integer (NoMethodError)
```
````

## Getting substrings

When wanting to slice a string, you can use the range operator to get a substring.
That is by creating a range with the start and end index of the substring.
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Suggested change
That is by creating a range with the start and end index of the substring.
That is, by creating a range with the start and end index of the sub-string.


```ruby
"Hello World"[0..4] # => "Hello"
"Hello World"[6..10] # => "World"
```

You can also use negative indexes to get the substring from the end of the string.

```ruby
"Hello World"[-5..-1] # => "World"
"Hello World"[6..-4] # => "Wor"
```

## Range methods

Ranges do have a set of methods that can be used to work with them.
These methods when for example want to get the sum of all the values in the range, or check if the range includes a value.

| Method | Description | Example |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [`sum`][sum] | Returns the sum of all the values in the range | `(1..5).sum # => 15` |
| [`size`][size] | Returns the size of the range | `(1..5).size # => 5` |
| [`include?`][indlude] | Returns `true` if the range includes the given value, otherwise `false` | `(1..5).include?(3) # => true` |
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| Method | Description | Example |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [`sum`][sum] | Returns the sum of all the values in the range | `(1..5).sum # => 15` |
| [`size`][size] | Returns the size of the range | `(1..5).size # => 5` |
| [`include?`][indlude] | Returns `true` if the range includes the given value, otherwise `false` | `(1..5).include?(3) # => true` |
| Method | Description | Example |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [`sum`][sum] | Returns the sum of all the values in the range | `(1..5).sum # => 15` |
| [`size`][size] | Returns the size of the range | `(1..5).size # => 5` |
| [`include?`][indlude] | Returns `true` if the range includes the given value, otherwise `false` | `(1..5).include?(3) # => true` |


## Endless & Beginless ranges

There are two special types of ranges, the endless and beginless ranges.
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I wonder if they are really special ranges, or if this is more "syntactic sugar" that lets us express the normal ranges like this.

This means that the range has no beginning or end.
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If we terminate them with negative infinity and positive infinity, then we can see that they do have a beginning or end.

The endless or beginless range has there start or end value being `nil`, but when defining the range so can nil be omitted.
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irb(main):004:0> Range.new(nil, 5)
ArgumentError: bad value for range
        from (irb):4:in `initialize'
        from (irb):4:in `new'
        from (irb):4
        from :0
irb(main):005:0> (nil..5)
ArgumentError: bad value for range
        from (irb):5
        from :0
irb(main):006:0> 

I do not think this is true, demonstrably.

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image

Looking in the docs are there also mention of nil: https://rubyapi.org/3.2/o/range.

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Thanks. That is why I said think... and did it in an REPL, to verify. Seems like it has changed for newer versions of Ruby.

So I would then expect it to no longer be a terminated by infinity anything, and perhaps "undefined" in behavior. I will definitely look at the source code. Pretty sure the use will not change from 1..infinity as 1..nil though. (That would be surprising, but nil evaluates as 0 if we do to_i and as 0.0 if we do nil.to_f so definitely worth investigating.

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Oh, you sent a picture too. Whatever it is, I a sure it supports your statement. Not at a good device at the moment to get interpretations for pictures.

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Just for information, I happened to have a Pry session open, where Pry has a bug that does not show this as it is supposed to. That was the reason it was broken as shown. Not the syntax itself. "Bad Pry!"

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Using beginless and endless ranges is useful when you want to for example slice a string from the beginning or to the end.
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Suggested change
Using beginless and endless ranges is useful when you want to for example slice a string from the beginning or to the end.
Using beginless and endless ranges is useful when you want to, for example, slice a string from the beginning or to the end.


```ruby
"Hello World"[0..] # => "Hello World"
"Hello World"[4..] # => "o World"
"Hello World"[..5] # => "Hello"
```

```exercism/caution
If not used on a collection, the endless range can cause an infinite loop, if not used with caution.
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Suggested change
If not used on a collection, the endless range can cause an infinite loop, if not used with caution.
If not used on a collection, the endless range can cause an endless sequence, if not used with caution.

Because it does not loop, it is more an endless sequence than and endless loop.

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Yeah, I mean it could cause an infinte loop if you iterate over the sequence, but yes I think saying it is an endless sequence is better.

```

## String ranges

Strings can also be used in ranges and allow one to get an interval of strings between two strings.
But its behavior is a bit different than with chars, when using multiple characters in a string range.
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But its behavior is a bit different than with chars, when using multiple characters in a string range.
But its behavior is a bit different than with `chars`, when using multiple characters in a string range.

I believe you may be referring to the method, and so that should be code formatted.

Its behavior can become when doing more complex string ranges, so use it with caution.

```ruby
"aa".."az" # => "aa", "ab", "ac", ..., "az"
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Suggested change
"aa".."az" # => "aa", "ab", "ac", ..., "az"
In IRB:
>> "aa".."az"
=> "aa", "ab", "ac", # continues until "az"

We could use a smaller sequence as well, and still demonstrate this, so we do not have to allude to the missing content.

```

## Custom objects in ranges

````exercism/advanced
Ruby allows to use custom objects in ranges, the requirement for this is that the object implements the following:

- include the `Comparable` module
- `succ` method
- `<=>` method

These methods make it so that the range can iterate over the object, and compare the objects in the range.

```ruby
class Foo
include Comparable

attr_reader :value

def initialize(value)
@value = value
end

def succ
Foo.new(value + 1)
end

def <=>(other)
value <=> other.value
end
end

(Foo.new(1)..Foo.new(5))
# => #<Foo:0x7f3552bebe70 @value=1>, #<Foo:0x7f3552bebe50 @value=2>, #<Foo:0x7f3552bebe40 @value=3>, #<Foo:0x7f3552bebe30 @value=4>, #<Foo:0x7f3552bebe20 @value=5>
```
````

[range]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range
[sum]: https://rubyapi.org/o/enumerable#method-i-sum
[size]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range#method-i-size
[indlude]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range#method-i-include-3F
90 changes: 90 additions & 0 deletions concepts/ranges/introduction.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
# Ranges

[Ranges][ranges] represents an interval between two values.
The most common types that support ranges are `Int` and `String`.
They can be used for many things like quickly creating a collection, slicing strings, checking if a value is in a range and iteration.
They are created using the range operator `..` or `...` (inclusive and exclusive respectively).

```ruby
1..5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
1...5 # => 1, 2, 3, 4
```

The reason for having two range operators is to allow to create ranges that are inclusive or exclusive of the end value, which can be useful when for example working with indexes, that are zero based.

Ranges can also be created using the `Range` initializer.

```ruby
Range.new(1, 5) # => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
```

````exercism/note
When creating a range in Ruby using the range operators `..` or `...`, and wanting to call a method on the range, you need to wrap the range in parentheses.
This is because the otherwise will the method be called on the 2nd argument of the range operator.

```ruby
(1..5).sum # => 15
1..5.sum # => Error: undefined method `sum' for 5:Integer (NoMethodError)
```
````

## Getting substrings

When wanting to slice a string, you can use the range operator to get a substring.
That is by creating a range with the start and end index of the substring.

```ruby
"Hello World"[0..4] # => "Hello"
"Hello World"[6..10] # => "World"
```

You can also use negative indexes to get the substring from the end of the string.

```ruby
"Hello World"[-5..-1] # => "World"
"Hello World"[6..-4] # => "Wor"
```

## Range methods

Ranges do have a set of methods that can be used to work with them.
These methods when for example want to get the sum of all the values in the range, or check if the range includes a value.

| Method | Description | Example |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [`sum`][sum] | Returns the sum of all the values in the range | `(1..5).sum # => 15` |
| [`size`][size] | Returns the size of the range | `(1..5).size # => 5` |
| [`include?`][indlude] | Returns `true` if the range includes the given value, otherwise `false` | `(1..5).include?(3) # => true` |

## Endless & Beginless ranges

There are two special types of ranges, the endless and beginless ranges.
This means that the range has no beginning or end.
The endless or beginless range has there start or end value being `nil`, but when defining the range so can nil be omitted.

Using beginless and endless ranges is useful when you want to for example slice a string from the beginning or to the end.

```ruby
"Hello World"[0..] # => "Hello World"
"Hello World"[4..] # => "o World"
"Hello World"[..5] # => "Hello"
```

```exercism/caution
If not used on a collection, the endless range can cause an infinite loop, if not used with caution.
```

## String ranges

Strings can also be used in ranges and allow one to get an interval of strings between two strings.
But its behavior is a bit different than with chars, when using multiple characters in a string range.
Its behavior can become when doing more complex string ranges, so use it with caution.

```ruby
"aa".."az" # => "aa", "ab", "ac", ..., "az"
```

[range]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range
[sum]: https://rubyapi.org/o/enumerable#method-i-sum
[size]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range#method-i-size
[indlude]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range#method-i-include-3F
11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions concepts/ranges/links.json
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@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
[
{
"url": "https://www.rubyguides.com/2016/06/ruby-ranges-how-do-they-work/",
"description": "Ruby Guides: Ruby Ranges: How Do They Work?"
},
{
"url": "https://rubyapi.org/o/range",
"description": "Ruby api: Ranges"
}
]

21 changes: 19 additions & 2 deletions config.json
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -118,6 +118,17 @@
"conditionals"
]
},
{
"slug": "chess-game",
"name": "Chess Game",
"uuid": "3b107bdb-42a1-43de-95d4-ad1370a70cfc",
"concepts": [
"ranges"
],
"prerequisites": [
"symbols"
]
},
{
"slug": "bird-count",
"name": "Bird Count",
Expand All @@ -130,7 +141,8 @@
"instance-variables",
"booleans",
"symbols",
"conditionals"
"conditionals",
"ranges"
]
},
{
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1655,7 +1667,12 @@
"uuid": "4b0f3718-cc06-4aa6-8b0f-7db3bbe6af5d",
"slug": "symbols",
"name": "Symbols"
},
},
{
"uuid": "ec83aa13-0861-46d4-a126-2ebf6b8705d3",
"slug": "ranges",
"name": "Ranges"
},
{
"uuid": "0189a402-ed46-47ee-9f5b-cfa5f557720d",
"slug": "enumeration",
Expand Down
31 changes: 31 additions & 0 deletions exercises/concept/chess-game/.docs/hints.md
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# Hints

## 1. Define rank & file range

- You need to define two [constant][constants] that should hold a [`Range`][range] of ranks and files.
- The ranks should be an [`Int`][integers] `range` from 1 to 8.
- The files should be a [`String`][string] `Range` from 'A' to 'H'.
- The constant needs to be defined in the `Chess` [module][module].

## 2. Check if square is valid

- You need to check if a value is within a range.
- There is [a method][include] that can be used to check if a value is within a range.

## 3. Get player's nickname

- You can get a slice by using a `Range` as input.
- There is a [method][upcase] that can be used to upcase a string.

## 4. Create move message

- You can index the square string to get the rank and file.
- You can use already defined methods to get the nickname of the player, and to check if the move is valid.

[constants]: https://www.rubyguides.com/2017/07/ruby-constants/
[integers]: https://rubyapi.org/o/integer
[string]: https://rubyapi.org/o/string
[module]: https://rubyapi.org/o/module
[include]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range#method-i-include-3F
[range]: https://rubyapi.org/o/range
[upcase]: https://rubyapi.org/o/string#method-i-upcase
71 changes: 71 additions & 0 deletions exercises/concept/chess-game/.docs/instructions.md
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# Instructions

As a chess enthusiast, you would like to write your own version of the game.
Yes, there maybe plenty of implementations of chess available online already, but yours will be unique!

You start with implementing a basic movement system for the pieces.

The chess game will be played on a board that is 8 squares wide and 8 squares high.
The squares are identified by a letter and a number.

## 1. Define rank & file range

The game will have to store the ranks of the board.
The ranks are the rows of the board, and are numbered from 1 to 8.

The game will also have to store the files of the board.
The files are the columns of the board, and are identified by the letters A to H.

Define the `Chess::Ranks` and `Chess::Files` constants that store the range of ranks and files respectively.

```ruby
Chess::Ranks
# => 1..8

Chess::Files
# => 'A'..'H'
```

## 2. Check if square is valid

The game will have to check if a square is valid.
A square is valid if the rank and file are within the range of ranks and files.

Define the `Chess.valid_square?` method that takes the arguments `rank` that holds an int of the rank, and `file` that holds a char of the file.
The method should return `true` if the rank and file are within the range of ranks and files, and return `false` otherwise.

```ruby
Chess.valid_square?(1, 'A')
# => true
```

## 3. Get player's nickname

The game will have to get the nickname of the player.
The nickname is the first 2 characters of the player's first name, and the last 2 characters of the player's last name.
The nickname should be capitalized.

Define the `Chess.nickname` method that takes the arguments `first_name` that holds a string of the player's first name, and `last_name` that holds a string of the player's last name.
The method should return the nickname of the player as capitalized string.

```ruby
Chess.nickname("John", "Doe")
# => "JOOE"
```

## 4. Create move message

The game will have to create a message for a move, to say which player moved to which square.
The message should use the player's nickname, and the square they moved to.
The game also have to determine if the move is valid by checking if the file and rank of the square are within the range of files and ranks.

If the move is valid, the message should be: `"{nickname} moved to {square}}"`
If the move is invalid, the message should be: `"{nickname} attempted to move to {square}, but that is not a valid square"`

Define the `Chess.move_message` method that takes the arguments `first_name` that holds a string of the player's first_name, `last_name` that holds a string of the player's last_name, `square` that holds a string of the square the player moved to.
The method should return the message for the move as a string.

```ruby
Chess.move_message("John", "Doe", "A1")
# => "JOOE moved to A1"
```
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