Each Method Explained

general_explanation.rb

# The each method is an iterator. It invokes a block of code a certain amount of times. The amount of times
# it will invoke the block of code depends on the size of the collection (array or hash) it is called on.

# for example, calling each on an array could be done like this:
[1,2,3].each do |num|
  puts num
end

# this returns:
1
2
3
=> [1,2,3]

# In the example above, the each method invoked a block of code that simply puts each element of the array.
# After the each method completed iterating, it returned the original array.

# The same example could be written more concisely as:
[1,2,3].each { |num| puts num }

# When it comes to code blocks:
# do == {
# end == }

# A common guideline for using {} vs do/end is if the block of code contains one line, use {}, otherwise, use do/end.

# Another important note from the example above is that 'num' is simply a variable that exists in the block of code.
# We could actually name it anything, but it's good practice to name it according to what it represents.
# In our case, num represents an element of the array [1,2,3]. So, with each iteration, it represents, 1, then 2,
# then 3. After the '3' iteration, there are no more elements to pass through the block of code, 
# so the each method concludes, and returns the original array.

jaimes_example.rb

# Jaime's solution:
family=["mom", "dad", "Drew", "Alex", "June", "Leah", "Luca"]
message= ""
family.each do |name| 
  message=message + name + " I love you.\n"
end
puts message

# Alternative solution

# Regarding the '%w', I'm just showing you an alternative syntax for creating an array of strings. The curly brackets here are not used in the same manner as is blocks. %w{} creates an array just like [ ] does.

family = %w{ mom dad Drew Alex June Leah Luca }
message = ""
family.each { |name| message << "{name} I love you.\n" } # Since my block of code requires 1 line, I'm using {}. I also use the shovel (<<), which is nice way to build arrays and strings.
puts message