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| True, False, and Nil |
True, False, and Nil
true, false, and nil are special built-in data types in Ruby. Each of these keywords evaluates to an object that is the sole instance of its respective class.
true.class
=> TrueClass
false.class
=> FalseClass
nil.class
=> NilClass
true and false are Ruby's native boolean values. A boolean value is a value that can only be one of two possible values: true or not true. The object true represents truth, while false represents the opposite. You can assign variables to true / false, pass them to methods, and generally use them as you would other objects (such as numbers, Strings, Arrays, Hashes).
nil is a special value that indicates the absence of a value: it is Ruby's way of referring to "nothing". An example of when you will encounter the nil object is when you ask for something that doesn't exist or cannot be found:
hats = ["beret", "sombrero", "beanie", "fez", "flatcap"]
hats[0]
=> "beret" # the hat at index 0
hats[2]
=> "beanie" # the hat at index 2
hats[4]
=> "flatcap" # the hat at index 4
hats[5]
=> nil # there is no hat at index 5, index 5 holds nothing (nil)
Zero is not nothing (it's a number, which is something). Likewise, empty strings, arrays, and hashes are not nothing (they are objects, which happen to be empty). You can call the method nil? to check whether an object is nil.
0.nil?
=> false
"".nil?
=> false
[].nil?
=> false
{}.nil?
=> false
nil.nil?
=> true
# from the example above
hats[5].nil?
=> true
Every object in Ruby has a boolean value, meaning it is considered either true or false in a boolean context. Those considered true in this context are "truthy" and those considered false are "falsey." In Ruby, only false and nil are "falsey," everything else is "truthy."