Why do I need [:amount] on this code?

Question

I get the answer for the problem, I just don't get why you need to use [:amount] here. Could someone explain?
In the BankAccount class, implement a method called balance. The balance method should loop through transactions and calculate the current account balance.
class BankAccount
  attr_reader :name
  def initialize(name)
    @name = name
    @transactions = []
    add_transaction("Beginning Balance", 0)
  end
  def debit(description, amount)
    add_transaction(description, -amount)
  end
  def credit(description, amount)
    add_transaction(description, amount)
  end
  def add_transaction(description, amount)
    @transactions.push(description: description, amount: amount)
  end
  def balance
  balance = 0.0
  @transactions.each do |transaction|
     balance += transaction[:amount]
  end
  return balance
end
end

Sage Elliott · Accepted Answer

Hello, @jordanresendiz (https://teamtreehouse.com/jordanresendiz)! That's a good question.
In this method you're creating a hash to be able to push it to the array. "amount:" is the key for "amount" here.
ruby 
 def add_transaction(description, amount)
    @transactions.push(description: description, amount: amount)
  end
end

Here it's calling the key(:amount) to access the data stored in the array.
```ruby
 def balance
    balance = 0.0
    @transactions.each do |transaction|
      balance += transaction[:amount]
    end
    return balance
  end
  ```
I hope that helps!
Further reading about hashes can be found here (http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.2/Hash.html)

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jordanresendiz

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Why do I need [:amount] on this code?

1 Answer

Sage Elliott

Sage Elliott

jordanresendiz

jordanresendiz