variables.step

message "A variable is a way to name a piece of data so we can do things with
it. It can hold all kinds of things - words, numbers, the result of a function,
and even a function itself."

goals do
  goal "Understand what a variable is for"
  goal "Store data in variables"
  goal "Replace data in an existing variable"
end

step do
  message "Start up irb on the Virtual Machine."
  console "irb"
end

step do
  irb "my_variable = 5"
  message "This creates a new variable called `my_variable` and stores the value 5 in it."
  message "Let's confirm that. To see what value a variable holds, type its name."
    irb "my_variable"
    result "5"

  irb "another_variable = \"hi\""

  message "This creates another variable and stores the value \"hi\" in it."

end

step do
  irb "my_variable = 10"
  message "`my_variable` has a new value."
  irb "my_variable"
  result "10"
end

step do
  irb <<-IRB
    apples = 5
    bananas = 10 + 5
    fruits = 2 + apples + bananas
    bananas = fruits - apples
  IRB
  message "Variables are assigned a value using a single equals sign (=)."
  message "The right side of the equals sign is evaluated, and the result is
    assigned to the variable named on the left side of the equals."
  end

step do
   message "You've created a lot of variables. Let's see the list."
   irb "local_variables"
   result "[:bananas, :fruits, :apples, :another_variable, :my_variable]"
   message "Here Ruby gives you a list of variables you've defined in irb so
     far. This might be useful for when you want to see what variable names are
     already in use."
   end
step do
  message <<-CONTENT
  The opposite of a variable is `constant` - a value that doesn't change.
  Numbers, strings, nil, true, and false are constants.
  Check out what happens if you assign a value to a constant."
  CONTENT
  irb <<-IRB
    true == false
    1 == 1
    "a" == 1
  IRB
  message "(Notice in the last example we put the a in quotation marks to make it a string.)"
end

step do
  message "There are some rules about what you can name a variable."
	message <<-VARIABLE_NAMES
Try making variables with the following kinds of names in irb:

* all letters (like 'folders')

* all numbers (like '2000')

* an underscore (like 'first_name')

* a dash (like 'last-name')

* a number anywhere (like 'y2k')

* a number at the start (like '101dalmations')

* a number at the end (like 'starwars2')

Which worked? Which didn't?
  VARIABLE_NAMES
end

step do
  message "Variables can hold the result of a function."
  irb 'shouting = "hey, you!".upcase'
end

explanation do
  message "Variables allow you to store data so you can refer to it by name
    later. The data you store in variables will persist as long as your program
    keeps running and vanish when it stops."
  end

next_step "datatypes"