Inject vs. Readability

inject_vs_readability.rb

# inject is cool and elegant. I use it when I want to be cool. However, I tend to robotically begin the procedural
# way and end up at inject when I realize I am in that situation. See this simple example:

include ActionView::Helpers
class Link < Struct.new(:title, :url); end

a = Link.new("Google", "http://www.google.com")
b = Link.new("Hacker News", "http://news.ycombinator.com")

array_of_links = [a, b]

# this is elegant and neat, but a headache to understand for newcomers
def the_cool_way(array_of_links)
  array_of_links.inject(""){|output, link| output << link_to(link.title,link.url) }
end

# This is uncool procedural code, but almost anyone with programming experience 
# can understand it.
def the_uncool_way(array_of_links)
  output = ""
  array_of_links.each do |link|
    output << link_to(link.title, link.url)
  end
  # An explicit return? First of all, ew...
  return output
end

##This is what happens when you see the above code and remember #tap before #inject
def the_tap_that_shit_way(array_of_links)
  "".tap do |output| 
    array_of_links.each do |link|
      output << link_to(link.title, link.url)
    end
  end
end
#i hope you're using matchit

# The result is the same. A code snob will look down their nose at you if you use 

the_uncool_way the_cool_way(array_of_links) == the_uncool_way(array_of_links) 
the_cool_way(array_of_links)                == the_tap_that_shit_way(array_of_links)