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Ruby

valeriuv
valeriuv
20,999 Points
Posted by valeriuv
valeriuv
20,999 Points

What is the purpose of symbols?

This lesson showed that sometimes you might use symbols in hashes, as opposed to strings and numbers. However, it is not clear why you might need them? I would appreciate it if someone can clarify.

1 Answer

Trevor J
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Trevor J
Python Web Development Techdegree Student 2,107 Points
Trevor J
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Trevor J
Python Web Development Techdegree Student 2,107 Points

Symbols are most commonly used as placeholders in Hashes. In Rails, for example, the Rails params hash associates any of the values of any parameters passed in by the user (from a form or in the url) with a symbol representing the name of that value.

If you look at the example below from a Rails controller, the create method calls item_params
that uses symbols to store the input pased in from the create item form.

def create
    @item = Item.new(item_params)
end

def item_params
    params.require(:item).permit(:name, :description, :price)
end