What is the difference between Ruby hash construction with "=>" or ":"?

Question

What is the difference between these examples?

a = {'a' : 'b'}
a = {'a' => 'b'}

It is not a duplicate of the question that it was claimed to be of. The first form is simply a syntax error. — sawa, Jun 15 '16 at 14:33

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 15 '16 at 14:35

3

The first one is wrong, and gives you a syntax error. With the second syntax, you can use a key of any class. Otherwise, this syntax is just a shortcut for a symbol key.

a = {a: 'b'}

is equivalent to:

a = {:a => 'b'}

edited Jun 15 '16 at 14:35

sawa

165,429
45
277
381

answered Jun 15 '16 at 14:12

Ursus

29,643
3
33
50

3

Note that `{'a': 'b'}` (without space before `:`) is valid syntax in recent versions of Ruby. – Stefan Jun 15 '16 at 14:18
Valid as of ruby version `2.2+`, to be precise. – Tom Lord Jun 15 '16 at 14:20
Yes, true. But in that case `a` key will be a symbol. – Ursus Jun 15 '16 at 14:20

What is the difference between Ruby hash construction with "=>" or ":"?

1 Answers1