Help me get rid of the space " "

Question

def name
  @name || "#{self.first_name} #{self.last_name}"
end

If first name and last name are both empty name is a space " ". How do I rewrite the right-hand side so it's an empty string "" instead of a space " "?

Answer 1

You can just add .strip at the end:

>> ln = 'last' #=> "last"
>> fn = 'first' #=> "first"
>> "#{fn} #{ln}".strip #=> "first last"
>> fn = nil #=> nil
>> ln = nil #=> nil
>> "#{fn} #{ln}".strip #=> ""

Answer 2

def name
  @name ||= [first_name, last_name].compact * " "
end

This solution has the advantage of not including a trailing or leading space when either name is nil, and it works in the general case (i.e. for any number of strings).