Is there a difference between writing
parameter: "String"
and the lengthier
:parameter => "String"
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1No difference. Apart from personal preferences. – Sergio Tulentsev Mar 24 '13 at 17:38
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1@Sergio: What happens if you `'ha ha': 6` or `$set: { p: 11 }`? – mu is too short Mar 24 '13 at 18:01
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@muistooshort: well, he asked about symbols. With symbols - no difference :) – Sergio Tulentsev Mar 25 '13 at 01:07
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@Sergio: `:'ha ha'` and `:$set` are both symbols and things like `:$set` are quite common when working with MongoDB... – mu is too short Mar 25 '13 at 01:21
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@muistooshort: I know. I should have given more general answer. That's why I left a comment (which I should probably delete now). – Sergio Tulentsev Mar 25 '13 at 04:26
4 Answers
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They both construct a hash key-value pair. For the most part they are interchangeable. The parameter: "String" syntax was introduced in Ruby 1.9 and is modeled after JSON.
There are some differences/gotchas. The biggest one is that the newer syntax doesn't handle quoted keys. In a 1.8-style hash, you can do this:
:"multi word key" => some_value
In a 1.9-style hash, this is a syntax error:
"multi word key": some_value
Jim Stewart
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No difference.
I prefer 2nd syntax as I think it's easier to see when doing brief overview.
In Ruby 1.9.x and 2.0.0
graudeejs
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1Incorrect, some symbols are only valid with the hashrocket syntax. You also **must** use the hashrocket if your Hash has non-symbol keys. – mu is too short Mar 24 '13 at 17:59
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It's just a syntactic Sugar.
If you see in irb with Ruby 1.8.7
1.8.7 :004 > {:name => 'String'}
=> {:name=>"String"}
and With 1.9.3
1.9.3p392 :002 > {name: 'String'}
=> {:name=>"String"}
Both return the same format.
AnkitG
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