BEGIN and END
BEGIN defines a block that is run before any other code in the current file. It is typically used in one-liners with ruby -e. Similarly END defines a block that is run after any other code.
BEGIN must appear at top-level and END will issue a warning when you use it inside a method.
Here is an example:
BEGIN {
count = 0
}
You must use { and } you may not use do and end.
Here is an example one-liner that adds numbers from standard input or any files in the argument list:
ruby -ne 'BEGIN { count = 0 }; END { puts count }; count += gets.to_i'