What are blocks and procs in Ruby?

What are blocks and procs in Ruby?

Blocks and procs are both ways to encapsulate code in Ruby. A block is a chunk of code that can accept input and is usually associated with methods, while a proc is an object that holds a block of code.

Can you give me an example of how to use a block?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

[1, 2, 3].each do |number|
  puts number * 2
end

This will print each number in the array multiplied by 2.

What about procs? How do they differ from blocks?

Procs are objects that can be stored in variables and passed around. Here's an example:

my_proc = Proc.new { |x| x * 2 }
puts my_proc.call(5)

This will output 10. Unlike blocks, procs can be reused.

Are there any performance differences between using blocks and procs?

Yes, blocks are generally more efficient because they are not objects and have less overhead. Procs, being objects, can introduce some performance costs.