Control Flow

Intuition

Ruby’s control flow is expressive and permissive. Conditionals can be used as expressions that return values, and modifiers let you append conditions to single statements. The case statement performs pattern matching against ranges, regexes, and objects. Loops in Ruby are actually method calls with blocks, meaning iterators like each and times are the idiomatic way to repeat operations. Exceptions provide structured error handling, and blocks create scopes that manage resources like file handles automatically.

Conditionals

if / elsif / else

The if statement evaluates a condition and executes the corresponding branch. The elsif keyword handles additional conditions, and else provides a fallback:

score = 85

if score >= 90
  puts "Grade: A"
elsif score >= 80
  puts "Grade: B"
elsif score >= 70
  puts "Grade: C"
else
  puts "Grade: F"
end
## => "Grade: B"

## if as a modifier (postfix)
puts "Pass" if score >= 60
puts "Fail" if score < 60

# if as an expression (returns the last evaluated value)
grade = if score >= 90
         "A"
       elsif score >= 80
         "B"
       elsif score >= 70
         "C"
       else
         "F"
       end
puts grade  # => "B"

# Nested if
if user
  if user.active?
    if user.premium?
      puts "Premium active user"
    end
  end
end

unless

unless is the negation of if. It executes the body when the condition is falsy:

user = nil

unless user
  puts "No user found"
end
# => "No user found"

# unless with else
unless score >= 60
  puts "Failed"
else
  puts "Passed"
end

# unless as modifier
puts "No user" unless user

# Avoid double negatives -- prefer if for complex negations
# Bad
unless !user.active?
  deactivate(user)
end

# Good
if user.active?
  deactivate(user)
end

Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a concise inline conditional:

status = score >= 60 ? "Pass" : "Fail"

# Equivalent to
status = if score >= 60
          "Pass"
        else
          "Fail"
        end

# Nested ternaries (avoid when possible)
label = score >= 90 ? "A" : score >= 80 ? "B" : score >= 70 ? "C" : "F"

# Use case/when instead for multiple conditions

case / when

The case statement is Ruby”s switch construct. It supports both value matching and condition matching:

# Value matching (=== operator)
action = "delete"

case action
when "create"
  puts "Creating resource"
when "read"
  puts "Reading resource"
when "update"
  puts "Updating resource"
when "delete"
  puts "Deleting resource"
else
  puts "Unknown action"
end

# Case with expressions
case score
when 90..100 then "A"
when 80...90 then "B"
when 70...80 then "C"
when 0...70  then "F"
else "Invalid"
end

# Case with multiple values
role = "admin"

case role
when "admin", "superadmin"
  puts "Full access"
when "editor"
  puts "Edit access"
when "viewer"
  puts "Read-only access"
end

# Case with regex
case command
when /^create/
  puts "Create command"
when /^delete/
  puts "Delete command"
when /^update/
  puts "Update command"
else
  puts "Unknown command"
end

# Case with procs/lambdas (Ruby 2.7+ pattern matching alternative)
even = -> (n) { n.even? }
odd = -> (n) { n.odd? }

case 4
when even
  puts "Even number"
when odd
  puts "Odd number"
end

# Case as expression
category = case score
           when 90..100 then "excellent"
           when 80...90 then "good"
           when 70...80 then "average"
           else "below average"
           end

# Case with no argument (acts like a series of if/elsif)
number = 42

case
when number < 0
  puts "Negative"
when number == 0
  puts "Zero"
when number > 0
  puts "Positive"
end

Pattern Matching (Ruby 2.7+, stable in 3.0+)

# case/in with pattern matching
case { status: 200, body: "OK" }
in { status: 200..299, body: }
  puts "Success: #{body}"
in { status: 400..499 }
  puts "Client error"
in { status: 500..599 }
  puts "Server error"
end

# Array pattern matching
case [1, 2, 3]
in [Integer, Integer]
  puts "Two integers"
in [Integer, Integer, Integer]
  puts "Three integers"
end

# One-line pattern matching with =>
{ status: 404 } => { status: }
puts status  # => 404

# Guard clauses with if in patterns
case [1, 2, 3]
in [a, b, c] if a == 1
  puts "First element is 1"
end

Loops

while

The while loop executes as long as the condition is truthy:

count = 5
while count > 0
  puts "Count: #{count}"
  count -= 1
end
# => Count: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

# while as modifier
count = 5
count -= 1 while count > 0

# Infinite loop with break
while true
  line = gets.chomp
  break if line == "quit"
  puts "You typed: #{line}"
end

# Common pattern: reading input
while (line = gets)
  break if line.strip.empty?
  process(line)
end

until

until is the inverse of while — it executes while the condition is falsy:

count = 0
until count >= 5
  puts count
  count += 1
end
# => 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

# until as modifier
count = 0
count += 1 until count >= 5

for

The for loop iterates over collections:

# for over arrays
for element in [10, 20, 30]
  puts element
end

# for over ranges
for i in 1..5
  puts i
end

# for over hashes
for key, value in { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }
  puts "#{key}: #{value}"
end

# Note: for does NOT create a new scope -- the loop variable leaks
for i in 1..3
  # i is accessible after the loop
end
puts i  # => 3

# Prefer each over for -- it creates a proper block scope
[1, 2, 3].each do |i|
  # i is local to this block
end
# i is not accessible here (nil in Ruby 3.0+)

loop

The loop method creates an infinite loop, combined with break:

loop do
  print "Enter command (q to quit): "
  input = gets.chomp
  break if input == "q"
  process_command(input)
end

# loop with a counter
count = 0
loop do
  count += 1
  break if count >= 10
end

# loop returns the value passed to break
result = loop do
  break 42 if some_condition
end
# result => 42

Iterators

Ruby emphasises iteration over manual loops. Iterators are methods that yield values to a block:

each

The most fundamental iterator — yields each element of a collection:

# Array each
[1, 2, 3].each do |element|
  puts element
end

# Hash each
{ a: 1, b: 2 }.each do |key, value|
  puts "#{key}: #{value}"
end

# String each_char
"hello".each_char do |char|
  puts char
end

# Range each
(1..5).each { |i| puts i }

# each_line for strings
"line1\nline2\nline3".each_line do |line|
  puts line.chomp
end

# each_with_index
["a", "b", "c"].each_with_index do |element, index|
  puts "#{index}: #{element}"
end
# => 0: a, 1: b, 2: c

times

5.times do |i|
  puts "Iteration #{i}"
end
# => Iteration 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

5.times { puts "Hello" }  # prints "Hello" 5 times

# times returns self (the integer)
result = 3.times.map { |i| i * 2 }  # => [0, 2, 4]

upto and downto

1.upto(5) { |i| puts i }
# => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

5.downto(1) { |i| puts i }
# => 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

# With step
1.step(10, 2) { |i| puts i }
# => 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

# upto with string
"a".upto("e") { |c| puts c }
# => a, b, c, d, e

each_with_index and with_index

["apple", "banana", "cherry"].each_with_index do |fruit, index|
  puts "#{index}. #{fruit}"
end

# with_index on any iterator that yields a single value
(10..20).each.with_index do |number, index|
  puts "#{index}: #{number}"
end

# with_index with an offset
["a", "b", "c"].each.with_index(1) do |letter, index|
  puts "#{index}. #{letter}"
end
# => 1. a, 2. b, 3. c

Higher-Order Iterators

# map/collect -- transform each element
[1, 2, 3].map { |n| n ** 2 }
# => [1, 4, 9]

# select/reject -- filter elements
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].select { |n| n.even? }
# => [2, 4]

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].reject { |n| n.even? }
# => [1, 3, 5]

# reduce/inject -- accumulate
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].reduce(0) { |sum, n| sum + n }
# => 15

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].reduce(1, :*)
# => 120 (product using symbol shorthand)

# group_by -- group by key
["alice", "bob", "charlie"].group_by { |name| name.length }
# => {5=>["alice"], 3=>["bob"], 7=>["charlie"]}

# sort_by -- sort by key
["banana", "apple", "cherry"].sort_by { |word| word.length }
# => ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# partition -- split into two arrays
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].partition { |n| n.even? }
# => [[2, 4], [1, 3, 5]]

# each_slice -- iterate in groups
(1..10).each_slice(3).to_a
# => [[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], [10]]

# each_cons -- iterate over consecutive groups
[1, 2, 3, 4].each_cons(2).to_a
# => [[1,2], [2,3], [3,4]]

# cycle -- repeat endlessly
[:a, :b].cycle.take(6)
# => [:a, :b, :a, :b, :a, :b]

# zip -- combine multiple arrays
[1, 2, 3].zip([4, 5, 6])
# => [[1,4], [2,5], [3,6]]

# flat_map/collect_concat -- flatten mapped results
[[1, 2], [3, 4]].flat_map { |arr| arr.map { |n| n * 10 } }
# => [10, 20, 30, 40]

# all?/any?/none?/one?
[1, 2, 3].all? { |n| n > 0 }     # => true
[1, 2, 3].any? { |n| n > 5 }     # => false
[1, 2, 3].none? { |n| n > 5 }    # => true
[1, 2, 3].one? { |n| n == 2 }    # => true

# count with block
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].count { |n| n.even? }
# => 2

# find/detect -- first matching element
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].find { |n| n > 3 }
# => 4

# max_by/min_by
%w[apple banana cherry].max_by(&:length)
# => "banana"

%w[apple banana cherry].min_by(&:length)
# => "apple"

Chaining Iterators

# Multiple transformations chained
result = (1..100)
  .select { |n| n.even? }
  .map { |n| n ** 2 }
  .select { |n| n > 100 && n < 1000 }
  .sort
  .first(5)
# => [144, 196, 256, 324, 400]

# Lazy evaluation for large or infinite collections
# Avoids creating intermediate arrays
result = (1..Float::INFINITY)
  .lazy
  .select { |n| n.even? }
  .map { |n| n ** 2 }
  .select { |n| n < 1000 }
  .take(5)
  .to_a
# => [4, 16, 36, 64, 100]

# Lazy avoids processing all elements
huge_range = (1..1_000_000)
  .lazy
  .select { |n| n % 17 == 0 }
  .map { |n| n * 2 }
  .first(3)
  .to_a
# => [34, 68, 102]

Loop Control: next, break, redo

Skips to the next iteration of the loop:

# Skip odd numbers
(1..10).each do |i|
  next if i.odd?
  puts i
end
# => 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

# next with a value (returns the value instead of the block result)
result = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].map do |n|
  next nil if n.odd?      # returns nil for odd numbers
  n * 2                   # returns doubled value for even
end
# => [nil, 4, nil, 8, nil]

# Skip to next with inline form
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5].each { |i| next if i < 3; puts i }
# => 3, 4, 5

break

Exits the loop entirely:

# Find first element matching a condition
result = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].find do |n|
  break n if n > 4
end
# result => 5

# Break returns a value from the entire method call
found = loop do
  x = rand(1..100)
  break x if x > 90
end
# found => some number > 90

# break with a value in map
result = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].map do |n|
  break :done if n == 3
  n * 2
end
# result => :done (break exits map entirely)

redo

Restarts the current iteration without re-evaluating the condition:

# Retry input until valid
valid_input = nil

until valid_input
  print "Enter a number: "
  input = gets.chomp

  if input.match?(/\A\d+\z/)
    valid_input = input.to_i
  else
    puts "Invalid input. Try again."
  end
end

# redo in loops
count = 0
results = []

3.times do
  value = rand(10)
  if value < 3
    redo  # retry this iteration
  else
    results << value
    count += 1
  end
end
# Results will have 3 values all >= 3

retry (exception handling)

retry restarts the begin block from the beginning. Use with caution to avoid infinite loops:

# Retry with a counter
attempts = 0
max_attempts = 3

begin
  attempts += 1
  connect_to_database
rescue ConnectionError
  if attempts < max_attempts
    sleep(2 ** attempts)  # exponential backoff
    retry
  else
    raise "Failed after #{max_attempts} attempts"
  end
end

# retry restarts from begin
# Use sparingly -- prefer explicit retry loops
def fetch_with_retry(url, max_retries: 3)
  retries = 0
  begin
    response = HTTP.get(url)
    raise TimeoutError if response.status == 408
    response
  rescue TimeoutError, SocketError
    retries += 1
    if retries <= max_retries
      sleep(2 ** retries)
      retry
    else
      raise
    end
  end
end

Guard Clauses

Guard clauses improve readability by handling edge cases early:

# Without guard clauses (arrow anti-pattern)
def process_order(order)
  if order
    if order.paid?
      if order.items.any?
        ship(order)
      else
        raise "Empty order"
      end
    else
      raise "Unpaid order"
    end
  else
    raise "No order"
  end
end

# With guard clauses
def process_order(order)
  raise "No order" unless order
  raise "Unpaid order" unless order.paid?
  raise "Empty order" unless order.items.any?

  ship(order)
end

# Another example
def calculate_discount(user, order)
  return 0 unless user

  base = order.total > 100 ? 0.1 : 0.0
  return base unless user.member?

  base + 0.05
end

Exception Handling

begin / rescue / ensure / else

Ruby uses begin/rescue blocks for exception handling:

# Basic structure
begin
  # Code that might raise an exception
  result = 10 / 0
rescue ZeroDivisionError
  # Handle the specific exception
  puts "Cannot divide by zero"
end

# Full structure
begin
  file = File.open("data.txt")
  content = file.read
  result = process(content)
rescue Errno::ENOENT
  puts "File not found"
rescue IOError => e
  puts "I/O error: #{e.message}"
rescue => e
  # Catch-all (only rescue StandardError subclasses)
  puts "Unexpected error: #{e.message}"
  puts e.backtrace.first(5)
else
  # Executes only if no exception was raised
  puts "Processed successfully: #{result}"
ensure
  # Always executes (like finally in Java)
  file&.close
end

Exception Hierarchy

Ruby exceptions form a class hierarchy. Exception is the root, but you should only rescue StandardError (or its subclasses) in application code:

Exception
├── SystemExit          # exit(), exit!
├── SignalException     # signals (SIGINT, SIGTERM)
├── NoMemoryError       # out of memory
├── ScriptError
│   ├── LoadError
│   ├── NotImplementedError
│   └── SyntaxError
├── SecurityError
├── StandardError       # <-- rescue this in app code
│   ├── ArgumentError
│   ├── IOError
│   │   ├── EOFError
│   │   └── Errno::* (file system errors)
│   ├── IndexError
│   ├── KeyError        # Ruby 2.5+
│   ├── LocalJumpError
│   ├── NameError
│   ├── RangeError
│   ├── RegexpError
│   ├── RuntimeError
│   ├── StopIteration
│   ├── SyntaxError (in StandardError branch too)
│   ├── ThreadError
│   ├── TypeError
│   └── ZeroDivisionError
└── SystemStackError

# Rescue specific exceptions
begin
  JSON.parse(invalid_json)
rescue JSON::ParserError => e
  puts "Invalid JSON: #{e.message}"
end

begin
  File.read("/nonexistent/file.txt")
rescue Errno::ENOENT => e
  puts "File not found: #{e.message}"
rescue Errno::EACCES => e
  puts "Permission denied: #{e.message}"
end

begin
  array[100]
rescue IndexError => e
  puts "Index out of bounds: #{e.message}"
end

raise

The raise method creates and raises exceptions:

# Raise with a string message
raise "Something went wrong"

# Raise a specific exception class
raise ArgumentError, "Invalid argument"

# Raise with a formatted message
raise ArgumentError, "Expected #{expected}, got #{actual}"

# Raise an existing exception object
error = RuntimeError.new("Custom error")
raise error

# Re-raise the current exception (in a rescue block)
begin
  risky_operation
rescue => e
  # do some logging
  raise  # re-raises the same exception with original backtrace
end

# raise with ensure
begin
  raise "Initial error"
rescue => e
  puts "Caught: #{e.message}"
  raise RuntimeError, "Wrapped: #{e.message}"
end

Custom Exceptions

Define custom exception classes by inheriting from StandardError:

# Base custom exception
class ApplicationError < StandardError; end

# Specific exceptions
class ValidationError < ApplicationError
  attr_reader :field, :value

  def initialize(message = "Validation failed", field: nil, value: nil)
    @field = field
    @value = value
    super(message)
  end
end

class NotFoundError < ApplicationError
  attr_reader :resource, :id

  def initialize(message = "Resource not found", resource: nil, id: nil)
    @resource = resource
    @id = id
    super(message)
  end
end

class AuthenticationError < ApplicationError; end
class AuthorizationError < ApplicationError; end
class PaymentError < ApplicationError; end

# Using custom exceptions
class UserService
  def find_user!(id)
    user = User.find_by(id: id)
    raise NotFoundError.new("User not found", resource: "User", id: id) unless user
    user
  end

  def update_email!(user, new_email)
    raise ValidationError.new("Invalid email format", field: "email", value: new_email) unless
      new_email.match?(/\A[^@\s]+@[^@\s]+\z/)

    user.update!(email: new_email)
  end

  def authenticate!(username, password)
    user = User.find_by(username: username)
    raise NotFoundError, "User "#{username}' not found" unless user
    raise AuthenticationError, "Invalid password" unless user.authenticate(password)
    raise AuthorizationError, "Account suspended" unless user.active?
    user
  end
end

# Rescue custom exceptions
begin
  user = UserService.new.authenticate!("alice", "wrong")
rescue AuthenticationError => e
  puts "Auth failed: #{e.message}"
rescue NotFoundError => e
  puts "Not found: #{e.message}"
rescue ApplicationError => e
  puts "App error: #{e.class}: #{e.message}"
end

Exception Object Methods

begin
  raise ArgumentError, "Invalid value: nil"
rescue => e
  e.class           # => ArgumentError
  e.message         # => "Invalid value: nil"
  e.backtrace       # => Array of call stack strings
  e.backtrace[0]    # => first line of backtrace
  e.backtrace.first(3)  # => first 3 lines
  e.cause           # => the exception that caused this one (Ruby 2.5+)
  e.inspect         # => "#<ArgumentError: Invalid value: nil>"
  e.to_s            # => "Invalid value: nil"

  # Exception wrapping
  begin
    raise "original error"
  rescue => original
    raise StandardError, "wrapped: #{original.message}"
  end
rescue StandardError => e
  puts e.cause  # => nil (no cause tracking unless using raise cause: option)
end

# Ruby 3.1+ cause tracking
begin
  raise "inner"
rescue => inner
  raise "outer"
rescue => outer
  outer.cause  # => #<RuntimeError: inner>
end

retry with Exceptions

# Retry with exponential backoff
class ResilientClient
  def initialize(max_retries: 3, base_delay: 1)
    @max_retries = max_retries
    @base_delay = base_delay
  end

  def get(url)
    retries = 0
    begin
      response = HTTP.get(url)
      unless response.status == 200
        raise RuntimeError, "HTTP #{response.status}"
      end
      response
    rescue SocketError, TimeoutError, RuntimeError => e
      retries += 1
      if retries <= @max_retries
        delay = @base_delay * (2 ** (retries - 1))
        sleep(delay)
        retry
      else
        raise
      end
    end
  end
end

Rescue in Method Definitions

Ruby allows a compact rescue syntax directly in method definitions:

# Instead of wrapping entire method in begin/rescue
def fetch_data(url)
  response = HTTP.get(url)
  JSON.parse(response.body)
rescue JSON::ParserError
  {}
rescue SocketError, TimeoutError => e
  { error: e.message }
end

# Equivalent to
def fetch_data(url)
  begin
    response = HTTP.get(url)
    JSON.parse(response.body)
  rescue JSON::ParserError
    {}
  rescue SocketError, TimeoutError => e
    { error: e.message }
  end
end

# Multiple rescue clauses
def process(input)
  validate(input)
  transform(input)
  save(input)
rescue ValidationError => e
  { status: 422, error: e.message }
rescue SaveError => e
  { status: 500, error: e.message }
rescue => e
  { status: 500, error: "Unexpected: #{e.message}" }
end

Ensure for Cleanup

# File handling with ensure
def read_config(path)
  file = nil
  begin
    file = File.open(path, "r")
    file.read
  ensure
    file&.close
  end
end

# Database transaction with ensure
def with_transaction
  connection = DatabasePool.checkout
  begin
    connection.begin_transaction
    yield(connection)
    connection.commit
  rescue => e
    connection.rollback
    raise
  ensure
    DatabasePool.checkin(connection)
  end
end

# Lock management with ensure
def with_lock(resource)
  lock = acquire_lock(resource)
  begin
    yield
  ensure
    release_lock(lock)
  end
end

# Ensure always executes
def example
  begin
    raise "error"
  rescue
    puts "rescued"
  ensure
    puts "ensure runs"  # always executes
  end
  # Output: "rescued", then "ensure runs"
end

Common Control Flow Patterns

Early Return

# Clear, linear flow with early returns
def process_payment(order, user)
  return { error: "Order required" } unless order
  return { error: "User required" } unless user

  unless order.items.any?
    return { error: "Empty order" }
  end

  if order.total > user.credit_limit
    return { error: "Exceeds credit limit" }
  end

  charge = PaymentGateway.charge(user.payment_method, order.total)
  return { error: charge.error } unless charge.success?

  { success: true, charge_id: charge.id }
end

Flattening Nested Conditions

# Before: deeply nested
def handle_request(request)
  if request.authenticated?
    if request.authorised?
      if request.valid?
        process(request)
      else
        respond_with_error(400, "Invalid request")
      end
    else
      respond_with_error(403, "Not authorised")
    end
  else
    respond_with_error(401, "Not authenticated")
  end
end

# After: flattened with guards
def handle_request(request)
  return respond_with_error(401, "Not authenticated") unless request.authenticated?
  return respond_with_error(403, "Not authorised") unless request.authorised?
  return respond_with_error(400, "Invalid request") unless request.valid?

  process(request)
end

Conditional Assignment

# ||= for default values
name = nil
name ||= "Anonymous"
puts name  # => "Anonymous"

# Only assigns if variable is nil or false
config = {}
config[:timeout] ||= 30
config[:timeout] ||= 60  # still 30

# &&= for conditional update
debug = true
debug &&= false  # debug => false
debug &&= false  # debug is still false, no change

# Ternary for computed defaults
timeout = ENV.fetch("TIMEOUT", 30).to_i
mode = ENV.key?("DEBUG") ? :debug : :production

Cross-References

Variables and Types defines the data types that control flow statements operate on in conditional expressions.
Methods and Blocks shows how control flow interacts with method definitions, blocks, and iteration patterns.
Object-Oriented Programming applies control flow within class methods and object behaviour.

Common Mistakes

Using = instead of == in conditionals: = is assignment, not comparison. Ruby allows this without error, causing silent bugs. Always use == for comparison in if and unless.

Confusing unless with if !: unless with an else clause reads confusingly and is error-prone. Avoid unless...else; use if with the negated condition instead.

Assuming && and || return booleans: These operators return the actual value of the last evaluated expression, not necessarily true or false. Use !! to force boolean conversion when needed.

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