# New to ruby

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [December 10, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644 "2007-12-10T10:55:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/1 "2007-12-10T10:55:53Z")

</div>

why does my while loop never end?

puts ‘Please enter a number:’  
number = gets.chomp.to\_i  
while number != ‘’  
if number \> 0  
puts ‘You have entered a number greater than 0’  
end  
puts ‘Please enter a number’  
number = gets.chomp.to\_i  
end  
puts ‘Goodbye!’

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/2 "2007-12-10T11:20:02Z")

</div>

From: Imraan M. [[mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)]

# why does my while loop never end?

check your while condition, pls.

# puts ‘Please enter a number:’

# number = gets.chomp.to\_i

number is an integer

# while number != ‘’

then you’re comparing it w a string

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/3 "2007-12-10T11:21:48Z")

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Hello,

Is there any other source where I could download the gem  
activerecord-sybase-adapter.

I have been trying to access [http://gems.rubyonrails.org](http://gems.rubyonrails.org) all day, which  
hosts these adapters according to  
[Ruby on Rails — Adapter gems available](http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2007/10/1/adapter-gems-available) but to no  
avail.

[http://gems.rubyforge.net](http://gems.rubyforge.net) didn’t yield anything either.

I am upgrading to rails 2.0 and this is holding me back.

Many Thanks,  
Aman

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---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/4 "2007-12-10T11:25:19Z")

</div>

Because gets.chomp.to\_i will never be an empty string (’’).

‘’.to\_i  
–\> 0

nil.to\_i  
–\> 0

Regards,  
Nicolai

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/5 "2007-12-10T11:26:29Z")

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Hi Imraan,

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:55:51 -0500  
Imraan M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> why does my while loop never end?
> 
> puts ‘Please enter a number:’  
> number = gets.chomp.to\_i

casting to an integer

> while number != ‘’

this is a string  
(while number \> 0)

> if number \> 0  
> puts ‘You have entered a number greater than 0’  
> end  
> puts ‘Please enter a number’  
> number = gets.chomp.to\_i

casting to an integer

> end  
> puts ‘Goodbye!’

cheers,

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@imoo](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/imoo)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/new-to-ruby/122644/6 "2007-12-10T11:29:13Z")

</div>

Thank you all. I understand now! 🙂

Mark W. wrote:

> Hi Imraan,
> 
> On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:55:51 -0500  
> Imraan M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: