Chapter 3.1 Strings
Strings are sequences of bytes that represent a sequence of characters. A string literal is the most common form of string. It is a constant string which is created by enclosing it in single or double quotes.
Example:
puts 'Hi, John.' --> Hi, John.
puts 'What\'s going on?' --> What's going on?A backslash symbolizes an escape sequence and is followed by a character to create normally unprintable characters.
A single quote contains a limited set of escape sequence. Double quotes offer more escape sequences and expression interpolation. The following table lists the escape sequences:
Expression interpolation allows you to insert value of pieces of Ruby code into strings directly.
Everything in Ruby is an object.
Example:
Input: "inches/yard: #{12*3}"
Output: inches/yard: 36
Input:"#{"Ruby! "*3}"
Output: Ruby! Ruby! Ruby!Special delimiter %Q and %q also allow you to create strings. To use the delimiter, type %Q and %q followed by any non-alphanumeric, non-multibyte character.
Example:
Input: %q{Starbucks and Coffee.}
Output: Starbucks and Coffee.
Input: %Q; #{"Ice cream! "*4};
Output: Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!%q acts like the single quoted string. %Q acts like the double quoted string.
Heredocs is another way to create to strings in Ruby. To create a string using heredocs, specify a delimiter after a set of << characters to start the string and putting the delimiter on a line of its own to end it.
Example:
my_string = << MY_STRING
MY_STRINGThe to_s method of an object can also be used to create a string instance.