what is %w

[Joel Saltzmanjoelh]

What is the %w used for in ruby?

 

[David A. Black]

Hi --

What is the %w used for in ruby?

To create an array of strings:

%w{ one two three } # same as ["one", "two", "three"]

You can use other delimiters, like []. I'm not sure why I've
gravitated toward curly braces for this.


David

 

[Sam Haskins]

What sort of situations is that syntax useful in?

Hi --

What is the %w used for in ruby?

To create an array of strings:

%w{ one two three } # same as ["one", "two", "three"]

You can use other delimiters, like []. I'm not sure why I've
gravitated toward curly braces for this.


David

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* Co-taught by D.A. Black and Erik Kastner
See http://www.rubypal.com for details and updates!

 

[David A. Black]

Hi --

Hi --

What is the %w used for in ruby?

To create an array of strings:

%w{ one two three } # same as ["one", "two", "three"]

You can use other delimiters, like []. I'm not sure why I've
gravitated toward curly braces for this.

What sort of situations is that syntax useful in?

It's very handy for saving typing. It's just faster. Also, if your
strings happen to have quotation marks in them, you don't have to
escape them. That may not happen every day, and there are other ways
to bring that about, but it could be useful.


David

 

[Martin DeMello]

What sort of situations is that syntax useful in?

When you need an inline array of strings. Compare

MONTHS = ['January', 'February', 'March', 'April', 'May', 'June',
'July', 'August', 'September', 'October', 'November', 'December']
MONTHS = %w(January February March April May June July August
September October November December)

Try typing them both an and you'll see the use of the syntax

martin