Chaining methods in Ruby

something.rb

class Something
  attr_accessor :thing

  def initialize
    self.thing = []
  end

  def one
    # by returning self on the last line of a method, that method will then
    # allow another method to be called immediately after it since the next
    # method will be called on `self`.

    self.thing << 'first'
    self
  end

  def two word='nothing'
    # another way to do this is to include returning self on the same line.
    # we're also now allowing the user to pass a variable as part of the chain.

    (self.thing << word) && self
  end
end

# these methods can now be chained
s1 = Something.new
puts s1.one.two.thing.inspect
#=> ["first", "nothing"]

# passing a variable
s2 = Something.new
puts s2.one.two('second').thing.inspect
#=> ["first", "second"]