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What causes the error in the following code?

ruby -e "puts 1++"
-e:1: syntax error, unexpected $end

or 

ruby -e "x=1; puts x++;"
-e:1: syntax error, unexpected ';'
the Tin Man
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robert
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1 Answers1

65

Ruby doesn't have an ++ operator. You can do puts 1.next though. Note that for your second example this would not change the value of x, in that case you'd have to use x += 1.

Community
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Michael Kohl
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    you mean, ruby doesn't have ++ operator? – robert Nov 03 '11 at 11:17
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    Exactly, it has neither an increment nor a decrement operator. Look at this post to see why: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3660563/why-doesnt-ruby-support-i-or-i-for-fixnum – Michael Kohl Nov 03 '11 at 11:21