Emoticon Translator

Learning Goals

Convert data from a file into Ruby collections
Restructure array and hash data

Background

Your friend JJ just moved to Japan and loves it. However, sometimes he gets confused because his new friends text him emoticons that he doesn't recognize, like ＼(◎o◎)／! and ((d[-_-]b)).

He asked you to create a method that will translate these emoticons to English. He also asked you to create a method that will convert his English emoticons, like :), into their Japanese equivalents so that he can look cool in texts to his new friends.

Instructions

Write a method, load_library, that loads the emoticons.yml file.
Write a method, get_japanese_emoticon, that will take a traditional Western emoticon, like :) and translate it to its Japanese version. It will rely load_library to work. Refer to the table below for translations.
Write a method, get_english_meaning, that takes a Japanese emoticon and returns its meaning in English. This method will also rely on load_library to first load the YAML file.

Meaning	English	Japanese
angel	O:)	☜(⌒▽⌒)☞
angry	>:(	ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ
bored	:O	(ΘεΘ;)
confused	%)	(゜.゜)
embarrassed	:$	(#^.^#)
fish	><>	>゜))))彡
glasses	8D	(^0_0^)
grinning	=D	（￣ー￣）
happy	:)	（＾ｖ＾）
kiss	:*	(*^3^)/~☆
sad	:'(	(Ｔ ▽ Ｔ)
surprised	:o	o_O
wink	;)	(^_-)

What is YAML?

About

YAML is a recursive acronym for "YAML Ain't Markup Language". YAML is used because it is easier for humans to read and write than typing out entire arrays, hashes, etc.

Example 1

For instance, take this fruit YAML file:

# fruits.yml
- Apple
- Orange
- Strawberry
- Mango

When Ruby loads the the YAML file above, the list of fruits would become an array:

require "yaml"
fruits = YAML.load_file('fruits.yml')

fruits
# => ["Apple","Orange","Strawberry","Mango"]

Example 2

Another example could be a hash:

# government.yml
president: Barack Obama
vice president: Joe Biden
secretary of state: John Kerry
secretary of the treasury: Jacob Lew

When Ruby loads the the YAML file above, the list of position titles and names would become a hash of keys and values:

require "yaml"
gov = YAML.load_file('government.yml')

gov
# =>
# {
#   "president" => "Barack Obama",
#   "vice president" => "Joe Biden",
#   "secretary of state" => "John Kerry",
#   "secretary of the treasury" => "Jacob Lew"
# }

Final Words about YAML

A YAML file has an extension of .yml. For more info about YAML syntax, see Ansible's docs. You can read more about YAML on the Wikipedia page.

Notes on this Lab

This is a test-driven lab so just get those specs to pass! The first step will be to load the YAML file in the lib/ folder. Check out the resources below for help loading a YAML file.

Important: When defining hash keys, depending on the syntax that you use, Ruby may automatically convert a given String key into a Symbol. So, for instance, if we were to open IRB and declare a hash using the hash-rocket, the resulting key remains a String:

hash = {"get_emoticon" => {}}
hash #=> {"get_emoticon"=>{}}

However, if the alternate syntax is used, the key will be converted:

hash = {"get_emoticon": {}}
hash #=> {:get_emoticon=>{}}

Keep this in mind as you work on this lab. The tests will accept either, but you will need to be consistent in your own code when referencing hash keys. YAML will not convert the emoticons to symbols when reading emoticons.yml.

Resources

View Emoticon Translator on Learn.co and start learning to code for free.

joshmrallen/ruby-enumerables-hash-practice-emoticon-translator-lab-nyc-web-030920