From: James Britt <james_b@...>
Date: 2006-04-03T23:22:19+09:00
Subject: Re: What's up with symbols?

Hans-Eric Gr�nlund wrote:
> Hello fellows!
> 
> I'm trying to understand symbols. Not what they are, but rather why Ruby 
> has them. They are neat and I use them, but effectively you end up with 
> the same thing using plain strings, right? 

No.  There was a lengthy thread about Symbols here on ruby-talk not too 
long ago, so perhaps you'll want to search the archives.


> So why extend the language? I 
> get the feeling I'm missing a big point so please help me out by 
> pointing it out to me.

See also

http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2005/12/symbols_strings_methods_and_va.html
http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2005/12/digging_into_ruby_symbols_1.html



-- 
James Britt

"A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming is 
not worth knowing."
   - A. Perlis