Bryan Helmkamp - Fluent interface for Ruby delegation Comments

Comment on 'Fluent interface for Ruby delegation' by trans

2007-06-21T01:14:31Z

Never heard the term “fluent” applied to this before. I’ve always heard it referred to as “magic dot”. But maybe “fluent” is better, but it take the “magic” out ;) One problem with this notation though is when the statements get long. One way to handle that of course is:

delegate_reader(:line_items).
  to(:line_item_list)
delegate_reader(:total_value).
  as(:subtotal).to(:line_item_list)
delegate_writers(:first_name, :last_name).
  to(:owner)
delegate_accessors(:city, :state, :zip).
  with_prefix(:shipping).
  to(:shipping_address)

But I cant say I ever liked those trailing dots. Another means would be to also support a “fluent block” notation, so to speak:

delegate_reader :line_items do
  to :line_item_list
end

delegate_reader :total_value do
  as :subtotal
  to :line_item_list
end

delegate_writers :first_name, :last_name do
  to :owner
end

delegate_accessors :city, :state, :zip do
  with_prefix :shipping
  to :shipping_address
end

Comment on 'Fluent interface for Ruby delegation' by Bryan Helmkamp

2007-04-25T03:18:50Z

Eric—Interesting idea. I worry about adding the extra complexity without too much of a gain in readability. Most of ActiveRecord reads quite naturally with its standard interface.

I wasn’t familiar with the concept of Higher Order Messaging. Thanks for that link.

Comment on 'Fluent interface for Ruby delegation' by Eric Allam

2007-04-24T04:56:50Z

After working with rspec I am really starting to like fluent interfaces because of the increased readability and possibility for greater flexibility. It reminds me of Higher Order Messaging which I was introduced to recently and haven’t fully digested.

What do you think about turning Active Record into a fluent interface?