Ruby, !! operator (a/k/a the double-bang)

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What does !! mean in ruby?

Hi,

I'm new to Ruby and can't find anywhere description of what "!!" means.

Here's an example:

def signed_in?
  !!current_user
end

If this is a double negative, why not to say:

def signed_in?
  current_user
end

Please help.

Answer 1

In Ruby (and many other languages) there are many values that evaluate to true in a boolean context, and a handful that will evaluate to false. In Ruby, the only two things that evaluate to false are false (itself) and nil.

If you negate something, that forces a boolean context. Of course, it also negates it. If you double-negate it, it forces the boolean context, but returns the proper boolean value.

For example:

"hello"   #-> this is a string; it is not in a boolean context
!"hello"  #-> this is a string that is forced into a boolean 
          #   context (true), and then negated (false)
!!"hello" #-> this is a string that is forced into a boolean 
          #   context (true), and then negated (false), and then 
          #   negated again (true)
!!nil     #-> this is a false-y value that is forced into a boolean 
          #   context (false), and then negated (true), and then 
          #   negated again (false)

In your example, the signed_in? method should return a boolean value (as indicated by convention by the ? character). The internal logic it uses to decide this value is by checking to see if the current_user variable is set. If it is set, it will evaluate to true in a boolean context. If not, it will evaluate as false. The double negation forces the return value to be a boolean.