to_b makes boolean evaluation more deterministic and dependable.

to_b.rb

# install in rails: config/initializers/to_b.rb
#
# Examples of how it makes things easier:
#
# true if []            # => true
# true if [].to_b       # => nil
# true if ""            # => true
# true if "".to_b       # => nil
# true if 0             # => true
# true if 0.to_b        # => nil
# true if "false"       # => true
# true if "false".to_b  # => nil
#
# In the first and second example, an empty array or an empty string evaluates as true and I almost always
# want that to be evaluated as false.
# In the third example, 0 (zero) is still a numeric value and will evaluate as true, to_b evaluates that as false.
# In the fourth example, rails will often return a string, not a boolean so to_b looks at the string and
# evaluates more appropriately.
#
# You can attach to_b to pretty much any object and it will evaluate true or false as dependable as possible.
#
class Object
  def to_b
    return self.count > 0 if self.is_a?(Array)
    return self.present? if self.is_a?(MatchData)
    if (count = self.count rescue false)
      return count > 0
    end
    return true if self.is_a?(Integer) && self > 0 rescue nil
    self.to_s.match(/(true|t|yes|y|1)$/i) != nil
  end
end