[ruby-core:49869] [ruby-trunk - Feature #4801] Shorthand Hash Syntax for Strings

Issue #4801 has been updated by judofyr (Magnus Holm).


matz (Yukihiro Matsumoto) wrote:
> Besides that, we have already tried making Symbols a subclass of String, or making Symbols behave like Strings, and it didn't  work out.

Do you remember why it didn't work out to have Symbols behave like Strings? Any links?


----------------------------------------
Feature #4801: Shorthand Hash Syntax for Strings
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/4801#change-33625

Author: wardrop (Tom Wardrop)
Status: Rejected
Priority: Normal
Assignee: nobu (Nobuyoshi Nakada)
Category: 
Target version: next minor


Assuming there's no technical limitation or ambiguities, I suggest that the shorthand syntax for symbol's in the context of an array, be applied to strings also.

E.g. {'key': 'value'}

I don't believe there are any syntax ambiguous that this would give rise to. The only consideration that may need to be made, is if there are plans to support shorthand syntax for quoted symbols, e.g. {'key': 'value'}. If quoted symbols are off the table, then there's no harm in implementing a shorthand hash syntax for strings. This may stem the growing problem of what I like to call 'symbolitis' , where symbol's are selected as the key type purely for their aesthetics and ease of use, even when strings are a more appropriate choice.

Thoughts?


-- 
http://bugs.ruby-lang.org/