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recursive_traversal_find

🔍 Efficient Recursive Directory Traversal with Find and Pathname​

When you need to walk a complex directory tree, Ruby’s Find module paired with Pathname gives you both speed and expressive power. This approach helps you skip unwanted paths (like .git), resolve symlinks safely, and filter by file type in a single pass.

require 'find'
require 'pathname'

root = Pathname.new('/path/to/project')
ignored_dirs = %w[.git node_modules vendor]

Find.find(root) do |path_str|
  path = Pathname.new(path_str)

  # Skip unwanted directories early
  if path.directory? && ignored_dirs.include?(path.basename.to_s)
    Find.prune
  end

  # Only process real files, not broken symlinks
  next unless path.file? && path.realpath.file?

  # Example: pick up only Ruby files
  if path.extname == '.rb'
    puts "Found Ruby file: #{path.relative_path_from(root)}"
  end
end

This pattern scales to millions of files, avoids infinite loops from symlink cycles, and keeps your code readable and maintainable.