What is the inject function in Ruby?

Can you explain what the inject function does in Ruby?

Sure! The inject function in Ruby is used to accumulate a value across an enumerable, like an array. It takes an initial value and a block, applying the block to each element.

Can you give me an example of how to use it?

Of course! Here's a simple example: [1, 2, 3].inject(0) { |sum, number| sum + number } will return 6, which is the sum of the array.

What happens if I don't provide an initial value?

If you don't provide an initial value, inject will use the first element of the array as the initial value and start the accumulation from the second element.

Are there any other methods similar to inject?

Yes, methods like reduce and fold are similar to inject and can be used for similar purposes.