From: Gregory Brown <gregory.t.brown@...>
Date: 2006-01-02T09:18:40+09:00
Subject: Re: What is the difference between :foo and "foo" ?

On 1/1/06, dblack@wobblini.net <dblack@wobblini.net> wrote:

> It's actually not that complex -- basically:

I decided to throw up some examples for those who like examples.

>    a = "string" # a contains a reference to that string

irb(main):007:0> a = "foo"
=> "foo"
irb(main):008:0> b = "foo"
=> "foo"
irb(main):009:0> c = "foo"
=> "foo"
irb(main):010:0> a.object_id
=> -605890256
irb(main):011:0> b.object_id
=> -605898166
irb(main):012:0> c.object_id
=> -605912906

>    a = 1        # a contains the actual (immediate) value 1

 irb(main):001:0> a = 1
=> 1
irb(main):002:0> b = 1
=> 1
irb(main):003:0> c = 1
=> 1
irb(main):004:0> a.object_id
=> 3
irb(main):005:0> b.object_id
=> 3
irb(main):006:0> c.object_id
=> 3


> ("string" itself is a literal string.)

But keep in mind, "string" is not an immediate value.

irb(main):013:0> "string".object_id
=> -605956386
irb(main):014:0> "string".object_id
=> -605962596

Symbols, OTOH, are: (Seeing as they're just named numbers :))
irb(main):015:0> :my_sym.object_id
=> 4073742
irb(main):016:0> :my_sym.object_id
=> 4073742

Hope these examples help.