Is there a convention for memoization in a method call?

Question

I want to avoid reevaluation of a value in method call. Untill now, I was doing this:

def some_method
  @some_method ||= begin
    # lot\'s of code
  end
end
         


        

Answer 1

I don't like the bang either. I use

def some_method 
  @some_method_memo ||= some_method_eval 
end 

private 

def some_method_eval
  # lot's of code 
end 

Here eval is shorthand for evaluation. I like the way this reads and also that it makes the public interface concise.

I despise conventions that rely on underscores as distinguishing marks: they are both error prone and require that I remember YAMC (yet another meaningless convention). The Ada language, designed for safety-critical applications, does not allow leading, trailing, or multiple underscores. Nice idea.