Numeric

Numeric is the class from which all higher-level numeric classes should inherit.

Numeric allows instantiation of heap-allocated objects. Other core numeric classes such as Integer are implemented as immediates, which means that each Integer is a single immutable object which is always passed by value.

a = 1
1.object_id == a.object_id   #=> true

There can only ever be one instance of the integer 1, for example. Ruby ensures this by preventing instantiation. If duplication is attempted, the same instance is returned.

Integer.new(1)                   #=> NoMethodError: undefined method `new` for Integer:Class
1.dup                            #=> 1
1.object_id == 1.dup.object_id   #=> true

For this reason, Numeric should be used when defining other numeric classes.

Classes which inherit from Numeric must implement coerce, which returns a two-member Array containing an object that has been coerced into an instance of the new class and self (see #coerce).

Inheriting classes should also implement arithmetic operator methods (+, -, * and /) and the <=> operator (see Comparable). These methods may rely on coerce to ensure interoperability with instances of other numeric classes.

class Tally < Numeric
  def initialize(string)
    @string = string
  end

  def to_s
    @string
  end

  def to_i
    @string.size
  end

  def coerce(other)
    [self.class.new('|' * other.to_i), self]
  end

  def <=>(other)
    to_i <=> other.to_i
  end

  def +(other)
    self.class.new('|' * (to_i + other.to_i))
  end

  def -(other)
    self.class.new('|' * (to_i - other.to_i))
  end

  def *(other)
    self.class.new('|' * (to_i * other.to_i))
  end

  def /(other)
    self.class.new('|' * (to_i / other.to_i))
  end
end

tally = Tally.new('||')
puts tally * 2            #=> "||||"
puts tally > 1            #=> true

Numeric Reference

Integer

Holds Integer values. You cannot add a singleton method to an Integer object, any attempt to do so will raise a TypeError.

Integer Reference

Float

Float objects represent inexact real numbers using the native architecture’s double-precision floating point representation.

Floating point has a different arithmetic and is an inexact number. So you should know its esoteric system. See following:

  • http://docs.sun.com/source/806-3568/ncg_goldberg.html

  • https://github.com/rdp/ruby_tutorials_core/wiki/Ruby-Talk-FAQ#floats_impre cise

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_point#Accuracy_problems

Float Reference

Rational

A rational number can be represented as a pair of integer numbers: a/b (b>0), where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. Integer a equals rational a/1 mathematically.

In Ruby, you can create rational objects with the Kernel#Rational, to_r, or rationalize methods or by suffixing r to a literal. The return values will be irreducible fractions.

Rational(1)      #=> (1/1)
Rational(2, 3)   #=> (2/3)
Rational(4, -6)  #=> (-2/3)
3.to_r           #=> (3/1)
2/3r             #=> (2/3)

You can also create rational objects from floating-point numbers or strings.

Rational(0.3)    #=> (5404319552844595/18014398509481984)
Rational('0.3')  #=> (3/10)
Rational('2/3')  #=> (2/3)

0.3.to_r         #=> (5404319552844595/18014398509481984)
'0.3'.to_r       #=> (3/10)
'2/3'.to_r       #=> (2/3)
0.3.rationalize  #=> (3/10)

A rational object is an exact number, which helps you to write programs without any rounding errors.

10.times.inject(0) {|t| t + 0.1 }              #=> 0.9999999999999999
10.times.inject(0) {|t| t + Rational('0.1') }  #=> (1/1)

However, when an expression includes an inexact component (numerical value or operation), it will produce an inexact result.

Rational(10) / 3   #=> (10/3)
Rational(10) / 3.0 #=> 3.3333333333333335

Rational(-8) ** Rational(1, 3)
                   #=> (1.0000000000000002+1.7320508075688772i)

Rational Reference

Complex

A complex number can be represented as a paired real number with imaginary unit; a+bi. Where a is real part, b is imaginary part and i is imaginary unit. Real a equals complex a+0i mathematically.

Complex object can be created as literal, and also by using Kernel#Complex, Complex::rect, Complex::polar or to_c method.

2+1i                 #=> (2+1i)
Complex(1)           #=> (1+0i)
Complex(2, 3)        #=> (2+3i)
Complex.polar(2, 3)  #=> (-1.9799849932008908+0.2822400161197344i)
3.to_c               #=> (3+0i)

You can also create complex object from floating-point numbers or strings.

Complex(0.3)         #=> (0.3+0i)
Complex('0.3-0.5i')  #=> (0.3-0.5i)
Complex('2/3+3/4i')  #=> ((2/3)+(3/4)*i)
Complex('1@2')       #=> (-0.4161468365471424+0.9092974268256817i)

0.3.to_c             #=> (0.3+0i)
'0.3-0.5i'.to_c      #=> (0.3-0.5i)
'2/3+3/4i'.to_c      #=> ((2/3)+(3/4)*i)
'1@2'.to_c           #=> (-0.4161468365471424+0.9092974268256817i)

A complex object is either an exact or an inexact number.

Complex(1, 1) / 2    #=> ((1/2)+(1/2)*i)
Complex(1, 1) / 2.0  #=> (0.5+0.5i)

Complex Reference

BigDecimal

Part of standard library. You need to require 'bigdecimal' before using.

Ruby provides built-in support for arbitrary precision integer arithmetic.

For example:

42**13  #=>   1265437718438866624512

BigDecimal provides similar support for very large or very accurate floating point numbers.

Decimal arithmetic is also useful for general calculation, because it provides the correct answers people expect–whereas normal binary floating point arithmetic often introduces subtle errors because of the conversion between base 10 and base 2.

For example, try:

sum = 0
10_000.times do
  sum = sum + 0.0001
end
print sum #=> 0.9999999999999062

and contrast with the output from:

require 'bigdecimal'

sum = BigDecimal("0")
10_000.times do
  sum = sum + BigDecimal("0.0001")
end
print sum #=> 0.1E1

Similarly:

(BigDecimal("1.2") - BigDecimal("1.0")) == BigDecimal("0.2") #=> true

(1.2 - 1.0) == 0.2 #=> false

BigDecimal Reference

Number Utilities

Math

The Math module contains module functions for basic trigonometric and transcendental functions. See class Float for a list of constants that define Ruby’s floating point accuracy.

Domains and codomains are given only for real (not complex) numbers.

Math Reference

Prime

Part of standard library. You need to require 'prime' before using.

The set of all prime numbers.

Example

Prime.each(100) do |prime|
  p prime  #=> 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...., 97
end

Prime is Enumerable:

Prime.first 5 # => [2, 3, 5, 7, 11]

Retrieving the instance

For convenience, each instance method of Prime.instance can be accessed as a class method of Prime.

e.g.

Prime.instance.prime?(2)  #=> true
Prime.prime?(2)           #=> true

Generators

A “generator” provides an implementation of enumerating pseudo-prime numbers and it remembers the position of enumeration and upper bound. Furthermore, it is an external iterator of prime enumeration which is compatible with an Enumerator.

Prime::PseudoPrimeGenerator is the base class for generators. There are few implementations of generator.

  • Prime::EratosthenesGenerator: Uses eratosthenes’ sieve.
  • Prime::TrialDivisionGenerator: Uses the trial division method.
  • Prime::Generator23: Generates all positive integers which are not divisible by either 2 or 3. This sequence is very bad as a pseudo-prime sequence. But this is faster and uses much less memory than the other generators. So, it is suitable for factorizing an integer which is not large but has many prime factors. e.g. for Prime#prime? .

Prime Reference

Random

Random provides an interface to Ruby’s pseudo-random number generator, or PRNG. The PRNG produces a deterministic sequence of bits which approximate true randomness. The sequence may be represented by integers, floats, or binary strings.

The generator may be initialized with either a system-generated or user-supplied seed value by using Random.srand.

The class method Random.rand provides the base functionality of Kernel.rand along with better handling of floating point values. These are both interfaces to Random::DEFAULT, the Ruby system PRNG.

Random.new will create a new PRNG with a state independent of Random::DEFAULT, allowing multiple generators with different seed values or sequence positions to exist simultaneously. Random objects can be marshaled, allowing sequences to be saved and resumed.

PRNGs are currently implemented as a modified Mersenne Twister with a period of 2**19937-1.

Random Reference

SecureRandom

Part of standard library. You need to require 'securerandom' before using.

This library is an interface to secure random number generators which are suitable for generating session keys in HTTP cookies, etc.

You can use this library in your application by requiring it:

require 'securerandom'

It supports the following secure random number generators:

  • openssl
  • /dev/urandom
  • Win32

SecureRandom is extended by the Random::Formatter module which defines the following methods:

  • alphanumeric
  • base64
  • choose
  • gen_random
  • hex
  • rand
  • random_bytes
  • random_number
  • urlsafe_base64
  • uuid

These methods are usable as class methods of SecureRandom such as SecureRandom.hex.

Examples

Generate random hexadecimal strings:

require 'securerandom'

SecureRandom.hex(10) #=> "52750b30ffbc7de3b362"
SecureRandom.hex(10) #=> "92b15d6c8dc4beb5f559"
SecureRandom.hex(13) #=> "39b290146bea6ce975c37cfc23"

Generate random base64 strings:

SecureRandom.base64(10) #=> "EcmTPZwWRAozdA=="
SecureRandom.base64(10) #=> "KO1nIU+p9DKxGg=="
SecureRandom.base64(12) #=> "7kJSM/MzBJI+75j8"

Generate random binary strings:

SecureRandom.random_bytes(10) #=> "\016\t{\370g\310pbr\301"
SecureRandom.random_bytes(10) #=> "\323U\030TO\234\357\020\a\337"

Generate alphanumeric strings:

SecureRandom.alphanumeric(10) #=> "S8baxMJnPl"
SecureRandom.alphanumeric(10) #=> "aOxAg8BAJe"

Generate UUIDs:

SecureRandom.uuid #=> "2d931510-d99f-494a-8c67-87feb05e1594"
SecureRandom.uuid #=> "bad85eb9-0713-4da7-8d36-07a8e4b00eab"

SecureRandom Reference