title: What does the "||=" operand stand for in ruby
body: <blockquote>
    <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
    <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/995593/what-does-mean-in-ruby">What does ||= mean in Ruby?</a>  </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  
  
  <p>I tested like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt; a||=3
  =&gt; 3
  &gt;&gt; a
  =&gt; 3
  &gt;&gt; a||=b
  =&gt; 3
  &gt;&gt; b
  NameError: undefined local variable or method `b' for main:Object
      from (irb):11
  </code></pre>