DRY Ruby Initialization with Hash Argument

Question

I find myself using hash arguments to constructors quite a bit, especially when writing DSLs for configuration or other bits of API that the end user will be exposed to. Wha

Answer 1

Please take a look at my gem, Valuable:

class PhoneNumber < Valuable
  has_value :description
  has_value :number
end

class Person < Valuable
  has_value :name
  has_value :favorite_color, :default => 'red'
  has_value :age, :klass => :integer
  has_collection :phone_numbers, :klass => PhoneNumber
end

jackson = Person.new(name: 'Michael Jackson', age: '50', phone_numbers: [{description: 'home', number: '800-867-5309'}, {description: 'cell', number: '123-456-7890'})

> jackson.name
=> "Michael Jackson"
> jackson.age
=> 50
> jackson.favorite_color
=> "red"
>> jackson.phone_numbers.first
=> #"home", :number=>"800-867-5309"}>

I use it for everything from search classes (EmployeeSearch, TimeEntrySearch) to reporting ( EmployeesWhoDidNotClockOutReport, ExecutiveSummaryReport) to presenters to API endpoints. If you add some ActiveModel bits you can easily hook these classes up to forms for gathering criteria. I hope you find it useful.