Learn the basics of Ruby with hands-on practice.

Become a Ruby Professional

Do you want to be an interpreted language geek? Are you tired of getting entangled in the dense syntaxes? Does it irritate you to compile your code to machine language first? Are you looking for an easy-to-use scripting language? Well, Ruby is the best pick for you then!
This introductory module will be providing you with hands-on practice with the support of a bunch of interactive illustrations, exercises, and the integral topics of variables, built-in classes, objects, conditionals, blocks, and much more!

Learn Ruby from Scratch

## Bang methods

All the examples we’ve discussed before are questions and don’t modify the object they’re called on.


name = "Ruby Monstas"
puts name.downcase
puts name

If we run the lines of code above, the `downcase` method returns a new lowercase version of the original string. When we output the original string on the next line, we can then see that it’s still the same. The `downcase` method doesn’t modify the string.


$$$$
### Methods ending with `!`
However, there are also variants of some of these methods that end in an exclamation mark (`!`). These are called **bang methods**, and they usually modify the object they’re called on.



For example, in addition to the method, `downcase` strings also have a  `downcase!` method.


# Bang methods

All the examples we’ve discussed before are questions and don’t modify the object they’re called on.


If we run the lines of code above, the `downcase` method returns a new lowercase version of the original string. When we output the original string on the next line, we can then see that it’s still the same. The `downcase` method doesn’t modify the string.


$$$$
## Methods ending with `!`
However, there are also variants of some of these methods that end in an exclamation mark (`!`). These are called **bang methods**, and they usually modify the object they’re called on.



For example, in addition to the method, `downcase` strings also have a  `downcase!` method.


The Big Picture

Variables

Built-in Class: Numeric

Built-in Class: String

Built-in Classes: TrueClass, FalseClass and NILClass

Built-in Class: Symbol

Built-in Class: Array

Built-in Class: Hash

Objects

Methods

Operators are Methods

Blocks

Get Ready for some more Drill!

Conditionals

Coding Challenge: Truthiness and Equivalence

Lets run another lap with hashes

Writing Classes

Mini project 1

Spotlight on Things Unremarked

Advanced Topics

Your Toolkit!

Appendix: Mailbox Project Prerequisite

Conclusion

Bangs

Bang methods