CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rubystring
HolyMoly
HolyMoly

Reputation: 2080

Why use %q( ) or %( )?

As I am going through some of the Ruby Doc's I have encountered percent strings, two of which I am a little confused about. Specifically it is the %()

string = %(I am a string)
 #=> "I am a string"

and the %q()

 string = %q(I am a string)
     #=> "I am a string"

When I played with them they both seem to output a string the same as if I just wrote 

string = "I am a string"
#=> "I am a string"

Why, and in what instances, would one prefer to use them as opposed to just creating a string literal, since they do not seem to save much by way of typing nor ease?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 1219

Answers (1)

user2864740
user2864740

Reputation: 61885

The % and %q forms are string literals as well, just with different parsing rules. Consider:

%q(I am a 'string' with a "string" in me!)

Allowing the different forms, with different escape/termination characters, can make certain literals easier to express. I prefer '-by-default, but it's about using an appropriate form for the given situation.

The % (same as %Q) and %q forms have the same relationship as the " and ' forms; so the difference between using one or the other (of the same family) should be clear.

Historically, these different % Notations were 'borrowed' from perl.

Upvotes: 5

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