[ GroovyGN ] Keep Your Values in Ranges

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Ranges are lists with sequential values. Each range is also a list object, because Range extends java.util.List. A range can be inclusive (so both begin and end values are in the range) or exclusive (the end value is not in the range). We use .. for an inclusive range and ..< for an exclusive range. 

Each object that implements the Comparable interface and implements a next() and previous() method can be used for a range. So this means we can write our own objects so they can be used in ranges, but also we can use for example String objects or Enum values in a range. 

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1. // Simple ranges with number values.  
2. def ints = 1..10  
3. assert [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] == ints  
4. assert 10 == ints.size()  
5. assert 1  == ints.from  
6. assert 10 == ints.to  
7.   
8. // We can step through the values.  
9. def list = []  
10. ints.step(2) { list << it }  
11. assert [1, 3, 5, 7, 9] == list  
12.   
13. // A range is just a List.  
14. assert 1  == ints[0]  
15. assert 10 == ints.last()  
16. def s = ''  
17. (2..4).each { s += it }  
18. assert '234' == s  
19.   
20. // Exclusive range.  
21. def exclusive = 2..<8  
22. assert [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] == exclusive  
23. assert 6 == exclusive.size()  
24. assert !exclusive.contains(8)  
25.   
26. // Object with next() and previous() can be used  
27. // in ranges. Groovy extends Java enum with   
28. // next() and previous() so we can use it in ranges.  
29. enum Compass {  
30.     NORTH, NORTH_EAST, EAST, SOUTH_EAST,   
31.     SOUTH, SOUTH_WEST, WEST, NORTH_WEST  
32. }  
33. def northToSouth = Compass.NORTH..Compass.SOUTH  
34. assert 5 == northToSouth.size()  
35. assert Compass.EAST == northToSouth[2]  
36. assert northToSouth.contains(Compass.SOUTH_EAST)  
37.   
38. // Bonus: next() and previous() are equivalent to   
39. // ++ and -- operators.  
40. def region = Compass.SOUTH  
41. assert Compass.SOUTH_WEST == ++region  
42. assert Compass.SOUTH == --region  

Supplement 
* The collective Groovy datatypes - Working with ranges