Method: String#first

Defined in:

lib/active_support/core_ext/string/access.rb

#first(limit = 1) ⇒ Object

Returns the first character. If a limit is supplied, returns a substring from the beginning of the string until it reaches the limit value. If the given limit is greater than or equal to the string length, returns a copy of self.

str = "hello"
str.first    # => "h"
str.first(1) # => "h"
str.first(2) # => "he"
str.first(0) # => ""
str.first(6) # => "hello"

# File 'lib/active_support/core_ext/string/access.rb', line 78

def first(limit = 1)
  self[0, limit] || raise(ArgumentError, "negative limit")
end