The Bumblebee

bumblebee.rb

<<-BUMBLEBEE

  The bumblebee hovers around an object,
  looking for a flower with some pollen.

  It goes from flower to flower,
  trying each method in order,
  and when it finds one that isn't empty,
  it returns it to the hive.

BUMBLEBEE

user.bumblebee(:full_name, :first_name, :login, :email) || "*unknown*"

# which is equivalent to;

if user.full_name.present?
  return user.full_name
elsif user.first_name.present?
  return user.first_name
elsif user.login.present?
  return user.login
elsif user.email.present?
  return user.email
else
  return "*unknown*"
end

implementation.rb

class Object
  def bumblebee(*flowers)
    while flowers.any?
      flower = self.send(flowers.shift)
      return flower unless flower.blank?
    end
  end
end

real-world.rb

# A real world example

>> u = User.new
=> #<User id=nil email: "" firstname:"">
>> u.email
=> ""
>> u.firstname
=> ""
>> u.bumblebee(:email, :firstname)
=> nil
>> u.firstname = "burger"
=> "burger"
>> u.bumblebee(:email, :firstname)
=> "burger"
>> u.email = "magicmail"
=> "magicmail"
>> u.bumblebee(:email, :firstname)
=> "magicmail"

>> u.bumblebee(:something_blank) # it also works like "try" but for :blank? rather than :nil?
=> nil

>> u.bumblebee(:something_blank) || "a default" # and gets us proper ruby defaults
=> "a default"

# BOOM