From: Eero Saynatkari <ruby-forum-reg@...>
Date: 2005-12-29T10:44:18+09:00
Subject: Re: What is the difference between :foo and "foo" ?

Yohanes Santoso wrote:
> Alex Knaub <aknaub@gmail.com> writes:
> 
>> 2005/12/28, Surgeon <biyokuantum@gmail.com>:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I am a Ruby newbie. I wish I didn't post such a simple question here
>>> but I had to.
>>> What is the difference between :foo (a keyword) and "foo"(a string).
>>> Can they be used interchangeably? Are they fundamentally same and is
>>> the only difference performance?
>>
>> http://onestepback.org/index.cgi/Tech/Ruby/SymbolsAreNotImmutableStrings.red
> 
> What a coincidence. Seems like Jim and I finally had enough of people
> conflating symbols and immutable strings on the same day.
> 
> http://microjet.ath.cx/WebWiki/2005.12.27_UsingSymbolsForTheWrongReason.html

While, technically speaking, both of you are absolutely and
undeniably correct (with one correction: Symbols are not Strings),
such a conflation is the best way to get someone over the
initial confusion. As this thread quite well demonstrates,
a definition for Symbols is quite difficult to come up with.

To paraphrase fifteen thousand fourty-three mediocre
comedians over the last three centuries:

"A Symbol is like a word, a sentence, a phrase, a
description or, perhaps, a name. Except sometimes."

> YS.


E

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