I am new to RUBY and i need to understand 3 functions - c++

Question

I have been given the 3 functions below. Can anybody please help me to understand these? I am trying to port an application to C++ using Qt, but I don't understand these functions. So please help me!
Thanks in advance.
function 1:
def read_key
puts "read pemkey: \"#{#pkey}\"" if #verbose
File.open(#pkey, 'rb') do |io|
#key = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new(io)
end
end
function 2:
def generate_key
puts "generate pemkey to \"#{#pkey_o}\"" if #verbose
#key = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.generate(KEY_SIZE)
# save key
File.open(#pkey_o, 'wb') do |file|
file << #key.export()
end
end
function 3:
def sign_zip
puts "sign zip" if #verbose
plain = nil
File.open(#zip, 'rb') do |file|
plain = file.read
end
#sig = #key.sign(OpenSSL::Digest::SHA1.new, plain)
end

Answer 1

There are probably two things about the above code that are confusing you, which if clarified, will help understand it.
First, #verbose and #key are instance variables, what a C++ programmer might call "member variables." The "if #verbose" following the puts statement literally means only do the puts if #verbose is true. #verbose never needs to be declared a bool--you just start using it. If it's never initialized, it's "nil" which evaluates to false.
Second, the do/end parts are code blocks. Many Ruby methods take a code block and execute it with a variable declared in those pipe characters. An example would be "array.each do |s| puts s; end" which might look like "for(int i = 0; i < array.size(); ++i) { s = array[i]; puts(s); }" in C++. For File.open, |io| is the file instance opened, and "read" is one of its methods.

Answer 2

These are all methods. #{#pkey_o} is string interpolation, substituting in the contents of an instance variable (called pkey_o; Ruby instance variables begin with # and class variables – unused here – begin with ##).
File.open(#pkey, 'rb') do |io|
#key = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new(io)
end
That opens the file whose name is stored in #pkey, stores the file handle in io (a block-local variable) and uses that with OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new, whose result is stored in #key. Finally, it closes the file handle when the block is finished (at the end) whether or not it is a successful exit or an error case (in which case an exception would be thrown, but it would still be thrown). When translating this to C++, use of the RAII pattern is entirely reasonable (if you were going to Java, I'd say to use try/finally).