Immutability and Design Patterns in Ruby

TL;DR

This paper explores how immutability, a key functional programming concept, can be integrated into Ruby's object-oriented design to enhance performance and reliability.

Contribution

It introduces three methods for implementing immutability in Ruby objects, bridging functional and object-oriented programming paradigms.

Findings

Immutability improves code reliability in Ruby.

Three techniques for creating immutable Ruby objects are presented.

Immutability can be effectively integrated into Ruby programming.

Abstract

Functional Programming has seen a resurgence in interest in the last few years and is often mentioned in opposition to Object-Orientated Programming. However, Object-Orientated Programming can actually absorb some of the lessons of Functional Programming to improve performance and reliability. This paper examines three ways in which Immutability, a common Functional Programming technique, can be used to develop immutable objects in Ruby.