Ran in to a bug tonight. See it?
def display_value
display_value = notes.blank? ? "untitled" : notes
display_value << " (#{ shortcut })" unless shortcut.blank?
display_value
end
Need a hint? The symptom was the +notes+ field being unexpectedly changed.
+display_value+ is pointed at +notes+. “<<” then goes ahead and changes that value (which both attributes are pointed at), thus both are effectively changed.
So, while it’s nice to avoid the extra String creation with “<<” where possible – sometimes, you’ve just gotta go with the “+=” to clone, then modify.
a and b ending up the same:
>> a = "a"
=> "a"
>> b = a
=> "a"
>> b << "asomething"
>> a.object_id == b.object_id
=> true
and different:
>> a = "a"
=> "a"
>> b = a
=> "a"
>> b += "something"
=> "asomething"
>> a.object_id == b.object_id
=> false
