Method Scope Lab

Objectives

1. Define a method that takes in an argument and pass a variable in as that argument.
2. Understand that a variable defined inside a method cannot be used outside of that method.

Instructions

Part I: Passing a Variable Into a Method

Open up lib/catch_phrase.rb. You should see the following method:

def catch_phrase
  puts phrase
end

Note that the method is trying to puts out a variable called phrase.

Let's take a look at the test for this method in spec/catch_phrase_spec.rb:

describe "#catch_phrase" do
  it "puts out a catch phrase" do
    phrase = "It's-a me, Mario!"
    expect{catch_phrase}.to output("It's-a me, Mario!\n").to_stdout
  end
end

Go ahead and run the test for this method only by typing rspec spec/catch_phrase_spec.rb into your terminal in the directory of this lab. You should see the following error:

NameError:
  undefined local variable or method `phrase' for #<RSpec::ExampleGroups::CatchPhrase:0x007f87b9cf04c0>

This error is occurring because the code inside the #catch_phrase method is trying to use the phrase variable but it's not present inside the scope of the #catch_phrase method. It is out of scope. Let's fix it!

We need to pass phrase into our #catch_phrase as an argument. Let's do it:

1. Re-define the #catch_phrase method to take in an argument of a phrase.
2. Change the test in spec/catch_phrase_spec.rb to match the following:

require "spec_helper"
describe "#catch_phrase" do
  it "puts out a catch phrase" do
    phrase = "It's-a me, Mario!"
    expect{catch_phrase(phrase)}.to output("It's-a me, Mario!\n").to_stdout
  end
end

Part II: Understanding Method Scope

Open up lib/rescue_princess_peach.rb and take a look at the following method:

def rescue_princess_peach
  status = "rescued"
  puts "Hooray! Mario has rescued Princess Peach."
end

Notice that the body of this method is setting a variable, status equal to a value of "rescued". Do you think we will be able to access this variable outside of the method? Let's find out!

1 . Un-comment the following lines in your lib/rescue_princess_peach.rb file:

rescue_princess_peach
puts status

2 . Run the file with ruby lib/rescue_princess_peach.rb in your terminal. You should see the following:

Hooray! Mario has rescued Princess Peach.
lib/rescue_princess_peach.rb:9:in `<main>': undefined local variable or method `status' for main:Object (NameError)

We are getting a NameError because status is undefined. Wait a minute, you might be wondering. Didn't we define status inside the #rescue_princess_peach method? We did, but variables defined inside a method are not available outside of that method. They are only available within the scope of that method.

Go back and comment out lines 8 and 9 of rescue_princess_peach.rb.

Run the test suite and you'll see that we are passing all of our tests. If you open up the spec/rescue_princess_peach_spec.rb file, you'll see the following test:

require "spec_helper"

describe "#rescue_princess_peach" do
  it "outputs a message and sets a variable, status, that is not available outside of this method" do
    expect{rescue_princess_peach}.to output("Hooray! Mario has rescued Princess Peach.\n").to_stdout
    expect{puts status}.to raise_error(NameError)
  end
end

Notice the last expectation of our test: expect{puts status}.to raise_error(NameError). We expect any attempt to use the status variable to be met with a NameError. Our program, outside of the #rescue_princess_peachmethod, just doesn't know what it is.

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