CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby
slayedbylucifer
slayedbylucifer

Reputation: 23532

Why does Ruby throw an error for alternate hash syntax?

I am coming from a Perl background and learning Ruby. I am bit confused about Ruby's hash syntax.

I am referring to the example given on http://www.ruby-doc.org/core-2.0/Hash.html

My Ruby throws a syntax error for the alternate syntax which is mentioned in the above link.

This code works fine:

#!/usr/bin/ruby
options = { :font_size => 10, :font_family => "Arial" }
puts options[:font_size]

Whereas, this code throws a syntax error:

#!/usr/bin/ruby
options = { font_size: 10, font_family: "Arial" }
puts options[:font_size]

The error is:

/home/workspace/ruby/so.rb:3: odd number list for Hash
options = { font_size: 10, font_family: "Arial" }

However, the link pasted above says that it should work.

Could you guide me what I am missing here? Or did I overlook something obvious?

BTW, here is the Ruby version that I am using:

# ruby --version
ruby 1.8.7 (2010-01-10 patchlevel 249) [i486-linux]

Upvotes: 0

Views: 335

Answers (2)

tckmn
tckmn

Reputation: 59363

That syntax only works in Ruby 1.9 or later.

Note that the page you reference says "Ruby 2.0" in the title.

Upvotes: 4

sawa
sawa

Reputation: 168269

That syntax was introduced in Ruby 1.9. You are using a version earlier than that. You should not be using Ruby 1.8 any more. Look at this page: http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2013/06/30/we-retire-1-8-7/.

Upvotes: 2

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