From b91527db301940f3e7afe0112fa77b59f41a31ff Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jbranchaud <jbranchaud@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:54:31 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Add Use Rescue As Part Of Inline Statement as a Ruby TIL

---
 README.md                                     |  3 +-
 .../use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md | 63 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 65 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 ruby/use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e37d6cc..95e294f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ working across different projects via [VisualMode](https://www.visualmode.dev/).
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://visualmode.kit.com/newsletter).
 
-_1803 TILs and counting..._
+_1804 TILs and counting..._
 
 See some of the other learning resources I work on:
 
@@ -1567,6 +1567,7 @@ If you've learned something here, support my efforts writing daily TILs by
 - [Update The Gemfile Bundled With Version](ruby/update-the-gemfile-bundled-with-version.md)
 - [Use A Case Statement As A Cond Statement](ruby/use-a-case-statement-as-a-cond-statement.md)
 - [Use dotenv In A Non-Rails Project](ruby/use-dotenv-in-a-non-rails-project.md)
+- [Use Rescue As Part Of Inline Statement](ruby/use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md)
 - [Use Tap For Better Test Data Setup](ruby/use-tap-for-better-test-data-setup.md)
 - [Using BCrypt To Create And Check Hashed Passwords](ruby/using-bcrypt-to-create-and-check-hashed-passwords.md)
 - [What To Do When You Don't Rescue](ruby/what-to-do-when-you-dont-rescue.md)
diff --git a/ruby/use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md b/ruby/use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15a0db7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/use-rescue-as-part-of-inline-statement.md
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# Use Rescue As Part Of Inline Statement
+
+In Ruby I typically think of `rescue` as block syntax that I can use to handle
+exceptions.
+
+```ruby
+begin
+  User.update!(password:)
+rescue
+  puts "There was an issue updating the password"
+end
+```
+
+The `rescue` keyword can also be used as part of an inline statement as a way of
+providing a _fallback_ value when the first part of the statement raises.
+
+For instance, if I'm trying to access some value on an array that happens to be
+`nil`, it is going to raise:
+
+```ruby
+> scores.first
+(irb):7:in '<main>': undefined method 'first' for nil (NoMethodError)
+```
+
+I can instead tack on a `rescue 0` which will give it `0` as a fallback value:
+
+```ruby
+> scores.first rescue 0
+=> 0
+```
+
+Of course, there are more idiomatic ways to handle this kind of situation in
+Ruby. Maybe something like this:
+
+```ruby
+> Array(scores).first || 0
+=> 0
+```
+
+Another way I've seen this inline rescue used is to print out the exception
+caused by that line of code, using `$!` (the global variable for the most
+recently raised exception).
+
+```ruby
+> scores.first rescue puts $!
+undefined method 'first' for nil
+=> nil
+```
+
+That is a one-liner for the following:
+
+```ruby
+begin
+  scores.first
+rescue => e
+  puts e
+end
+```
+
+The big caveat that goes with this is the same one that goes with any other
+blanket `rescue` block. If you are indiscriminately rescuing exceptions without
+being intentional about what you are rescuing and why, you could be potentially
+burying exceptions that you need to know about.