Symbol (programming): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:59, 28 April 2025

Revision as of 08:26, 28 April 2025

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===Ruby===

In [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], symbols can be created with a literal form, or by converting a string.<ref name=pickaxe />

They can be used as an identifier or an interned string.<ref name="rubysymbol">{{cite web |last=Kidd |first=Eric |date=20 January 2007 |title=13 Ways of Looking at a Ruby Symbol |url=http://www.randomhacks.net/articles/2007/01/20/13-ways-of-looking-at-a-ruby-symbol#9 |work=Random Hacks |access-date=10 July 2011}}</ref> Two symbols with the same contents will always refer to the same object.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.ruby-lang.org/en/master/Symbol.html|title=Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide|website=ruby-doc.com}}</ref>

It is considered a [[best practice]] to use symbols as keys to an [[associative array]] in Ruby.<ref name=rubysymbol /><ref name="wrongreason">{{cite web|title=Using Symbols for the Wrong Reason|url=http://microjet.ath.cx/WebWiki/2005.12.27_UsingSymbolsForTheWrongReason.html|work=Gnomic Notes}}</ref>

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=> "hello"

</syntaxhighlight>

Symbols are objects of the <code>Symbol</code> class in Ruby:<ref name="rdocsymbol">{{cite web|title=Symbol|url=httphttps://wwwdocs.ruby-doclang.org/coreen/classesmaster/Symbol.html|work=Ruby Documentation|access-date=10 July 2011}}</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang=irb>

irb(main):004:0> my_symbol = :hello_world