CS 214 Lab 1: Ruby

In this part of the exercise, we will write our first Ruby program that will solve the same problem as circleArea.cpp. Use your favorite text editor to create a file named circle_area.rb containing the program below (again, personalizing its opening documentation). By convention, the name of our Ruby source files will end in the .rb suffix. 
#! /usr/bin/ruby
# circle_area.rb computes the area of a circle given its radius
# 
# Input: the radius of a circle
# Precondition: the radius is not negative
# Output: the area of the circle.
#
# Begun by: Prof. Adams, for CS 214 at Calvin College.
# Completed by:
# Date:
###############################################################

# function circleArea returns a circle's area, given its radius
# Parameters: r, a number
# Precondition: r > 0.
# Returns: the area of a circle whose radius is r.
PI = 3.1415927
def circleArea(r)
    PI * r ** 2 
end

if __FILE__ == $0
   puts "To compute the area of a circle,"
   print " enter its radius: "
   radius = gets.chomp.to_f
   print "The circle's area is: "
   puts circleArea(radius)
end
As before, customize the program's opening documentation with your name, the date, etc.

Unlike traditional compiled languages (which are translated into machine language), Ruby is an interpreted language, meaning we use an interpreter to run our program. From the command-line, enter: 

   ruby circle_area.rb
The Ruby interpreter (ruby) will check the syntax of your program and if there are no errors, will be running it.

When your program runs successfully, test its correctness by using the data values below. 

  1

  2

  2.5

  4.99999
Make certain your results are equivalent to those of our other languages before you continue.

In Ruby, comments begin with the # symbol and end at the end of the line. Go through the program line by line and add comments that explain what each line is doing.

What is the difference between Ruby's puts and print methods?

Then, use the script program to record what appears in your terminal:

  1. Run script, giving the script file a descriptive name (e.g., script.ruby) to keep it distinct from your other languages.
  2. Use cat to list your program;
  3. Run your program using each of the four values above.
  4. Enter exit or type Cntl-d to exit the script program.
If this is your last exercise, combine and print your four script files using the "Turn In" instructions at the bottom of the lab 1 page.

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This page maintained by Joel Adams.