This is a little tune I’ve been humming a lot lately. It’s as handy as array.map(&:property). Really. You ever find yourself doing something like this? def change_state(object_id, new_state) object = find(object_id) object.state = new_state object.save object end Maybe not, but the pattern’s there: make an object, do something to the object, return the object. Rails’ returning method bundles this