# Form Control **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [July 17, 2008, 10:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319 "2008-07-17T10:20:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 10:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/1 "2008-07-17T10:20:05Z")
Hi guys, I’ve started learning Ruby and I’m really, really enjoying it. I have no prior experience with any programming language, and I’ve been reading, listening and watching as much Ruby related material I can. Can someone please take a look at my code, it’s s simple loop as per Chris P.'s Learn to Program book. This is what I’ve come up with to print the 99 bottles poem * * * ## 01| bottles = 99 02| 03| while bottles != 0 04| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ of beer on the wall! ’ + bottles.to\_s + ’ of beer!’ 05| puts ‘Take one down, and pass it around, now there is…’ 06| 07| bottles = bottles - 1 08| 09| if bottles == 0 10| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ of beer on the wall’ 11| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ bottles of beer!’ 12| end 13| 14| end Can someone tell me if I’m on the right track? For example. 09| if bottles == 0 I’ve seen people use the following instead Ex| if bottles != 1 What’s the the most correct context because I’m still wrapping my head around this. If != means “Are these different” Example if I change the code from == to != it will do the same thing 09| if bottles != 1 10| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ of beer on the wall’ 11| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ bottles of beer!’ 12| end So, will it count from 99, 98, 97, etc… when it reaches number 1 the != method will return a ‘false’ and therefor output whatever is in the if statement, is this correct? but if i read this in my head: I apologize for not being smart. Thanks in advance, devy ---
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/2 "2008-07-17T17:04:25Z")
Thanks James, I appreciate your assistance and making me feel most welcomed 🙂 Cheers, devy ---
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/3 "2008-07-17T15:20:08Z")
On Jul 17, 2008, at 3:15 AM, Devious Forlan wrote: > I’ve started learning Ruby and I’m really, really enjoying it. I > have no > prior experience with any programming language, and I’ve been reading, > listening and watching as much Ruby related material I can. Great. Welcome to Ruby! > Can someone please take a look at my code, it’s s simple loop as per > Chris P.'s Learn to Program book. Sure, I can take a look. > ## 06| 07| bottles = bottles - 1 08| 09| if bottles == 0 10| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ of beer on the wall’ 11| puts bottles.to\_s + ’ bottles of beer!’ 12| end 13| 14| end Looking good to me. > What’s the the most correct context because I’m still wrapping my head > around this. As you said, the two are equivalent. There’s no right or wrong way to represent it. It’s probably best to use whichever one you feel makes the code the most clear. However, I don’t think there’s much difference for this particular case. Again, nice job and welcome. James Edward G. II ---
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/4 "2008-07-18T17:22:30Z")
Thanks Marc, Like you my brain can only comprehend simple things 🙂 I’m really hoping I can finish Chris P.'s Learn to Program tutorial and take it from there. Cheers Marc H. wrote: > BTW instead of > > bottles = bottles - 1 > > you can also do > > bottles -= 1 > > Granted, it is not a huge change. > > About > > if bottles == 0 > > vs > > if bottles != 1 > > I’d prefer the first. For some reason my brain likes simple things > like == more than != which becomes especially complicated for my > brain to process when it is > unless bottles != 1 and bottles \>= 5 > > 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/5 "2008-07-17T18:54:21Z")
BTW instead of bottles = bottles - 1 you can also do bottles -= 1 Granted, it is not a huge change. About if bottles == 0 vs if bottles != 1 I’d prefer the first. For some reason my brain likes simple things like == more than != which becomes especially complicated for my brain to process when it is unless bottles != 1 and bottles \>= 5 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dev1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dev1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/form-control/143319/6 "2008-07-18T19:23:07Z")
Marc H. wrote: > For some reason my brain likes simple things Everyone’s brain likes simple things. Unfortunately one of the side-effects of education is to make people believe that complex things are somehow better. In kindergarten we learn that “Simple Simon” means stupid Simon, and the process carries on right up to higher degree level. Hence all those mathematical papers full of incomprehensible formulae, most of which say nothing of interest. I’ve come to the conclusion that 90% of people are “complicators”: give them a problem and they’ll add bells and whistles to it and make it more complex than it started out. I like to think I’m in the other 10%, the “simplifiers”. We strip the problem down to its bare necessities, see the underlying simplicity, and get things done. 🙂 Dave