What do functions with the same name do?

Question

I'm learning ruby and can't for the life of it figure out what this does:

def topic_list
  topics.map(&:name).join(",")
end

def topic_list=(names)
  if names.present?
    topics = names.split(",")
    self.topics = topics.map do |n|
      unless topic = Topic.find_by(slug: n)
        topic = Topic.create!(name: n)
      end
      topic
    end
  end
end

Why would two functions have the same name? Does the first function call the second one?

Answer 1

topic_list is a getter and topic_list= is a setter method. No they are not the same methods.

This question Trying to learn / understand Ruby setter and getter methods will be helpful as a basic food for this concept. So Read it.

The line self.topics = topics.map... in the method topic_list=, and topics.map(&:name).join(",") line in the method topic_list smells there is one getter called topics and setter topics=. I am sure(If you tell this code works altough) about this by looking at your code.