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    Remember that include? is case sensetive. So if my_string in the example above would be something like "abcDefg" (with an uppercase D), include?("cde") would return false. You may want to do a downcase() before calling include?().
    – phortx
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 7:58
  • 5
    Include on it's own is not ideal as it can throw a NoMethodError if nil test = nil test.include?("test") NoMethodError: undefined method `include?' for nil:NilClass should always convert the value being included to the expected value:- test.to_s.include?("test")
    – Gary
    Commented May 8, 2018 at 21:24
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    @Gary's advice holds if your goal is to minimize exceptions raised in this part of the code. That is not always the best goal. Generally if you expect a string at this point in the code and a value is nil instead, that implies something unexpected has occurred and an exception being raised is appropriate. If the existence of a nil here is unexpected, using to_s will hide the problem and increase the distance between the source and the detection of the problem, making it harder to debug.
    – Luke Griffiths
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 22:11
  • 1
    Alternatively, avoid sending methods to nil with a safe navigation operator test&.include?("test")
    – David Aldridge
    Commented Mar 30, 2022 at 16:03