catch/throw

gistfile1.rb

marble_jar = 0
count = 0

catch :jar_is_full do
  1000000000000.times do |marble|
    count += 1
    
    # grab a random-sized marble
    marble = rand(9)
    
    if marble_jar + marble > 1000
      # The jar is full
      throw :jar_is_full
      
    else
      # Insert the marble
      marble_jar += marble
      
    end
  end
end
puts "\n== There are #{marble_jar} marbles in the jar, but we only had to iterate #{count} times to find that out.\n\n"
# == There are 998 marbles in the jar, but we only had to iterate 258 times to find that out.