Ruby Literals

Any constant value which can be assigned to the variable is called as literal/constant. we use literal every time when typing an object in the ruby code. Ruby Literals are same as other programming languages, just a few adjustments, and differences here. These are following literals in Ruby.

1. Booleans and nil
2. Numbers or Integers
3. Strings
4. Symbols
5. Ranges
6. Arrays
7. Hashes
8. Regular Expressions

Type of Ruby Literals

• Booleans and nil : These are the boolean constants. Here false and nil has the same behavior although nil represents unknown or empty. It behaves as same as false does in conditional statements, but only true or false constants are returned. true behave the same represents a positive variable.

  true, false, nil

  Example: Ruby

  # Demo for Boolean literals
  puts(3+7==10);# returns true
  puts(3+7!=10);# returns false
  puts(3+7==nil);# return false
  

  Output:

  true
  false
  false

• Numbers or Integers : Ruby supports all types of Integers. we can write integers of any size as 100 or 1_00 or 10_0. Ruby allows any number of '_' in it's numbers as it says for readability purposes. Syntax :

  decimal(0d or 0D)
  octal(0o or 0O or 0)
  hex-decimal(0x or 0X)
  binary(0b or 0B).
  float(num- or numE1)
  

  Example : Ruby

  puts("300+1_00+10_0=", 300+1_00+10_0 );
  puts("hexa-", 0xaa );
  puts("octal-", 0o222 );
  puts("decimal-", 0d170, " ", 170);
  puts("binary-", 0b1010);
  puts("Float-", 1.234E1);
  puts("hexa-", aa);# error
  

  Output :

  300+1_00+10_0=500
  hexa-170
  octal-146
  decimal-170 170
  binary-10
  Float-12.34
  main.rb:9:in `': undefined local variable or method `aa' for main:Object (NameError)
  

• String : It is same as python. The string can be expressed with either "" or '', where "" allows the escaped characters for interpolation. Syntax:

  #{expression}

  Example: Ruby

  puts( "Two multiply three is Six : #{2 * 3}")
  puts("guardians\nof\nthe\ngalaxy");
  puts('guardians\nof\nthe\ngalaxy')
  

  Output :

  Two multiply three is Six: 6
  guardians
  of
  the
  galaxy
  guardians\nof\nthe\ngalaxy
  

• Symbol : In Ruby, a symbol represents a name inside the interpreter. Symbols are placed inside the ruby's interpreter and never garbage-collected. So, it affects the size of the interpreter, if are created in high amount or never freed. Syntax :

  ruby_symbol

  We can also create symbols keys by interpolation : Ruby

  puts(:":guardian_id#{20+1_5}")
  

  Output :

   :guardian_id35

• Ranges : It is similar to the one we have in python range(). Prints all possible values between the given boundaries(including). Syntax :

  range1..range2

  Example: Ruby

  for i in 2..5 do
      puts(i)
  end
  

  Output:

  2
  3
  4
  5
  

• Array : Arrays is a collection of objects, created using '[' and ']'. Example: Ruby

  # Code for Array Demo
  gog = ['Quill', 'Gamora', 'Rocket', 'Groot', 'Drax']
  puts(gog[0])
  puts(gog[2]) 
  
  # Negative indices are counted from the end
  print("Negative Index:", gog[-3], "\n\n")
  
  # [start, count]
  puts("[start, count]:", gog[0, 3], "\n")
  
  # Using ranges.
  # as range size exceeded it prints till full length
  puts("Using range:", gog[0..7])
  

  Output:

  Quill
  Rocket
  Negative Index:Rocket
  
  [start, count]:
  Quill
  Gamora
  Rocket
  
  Using range:
  Quill
  Gamora
  Rocket
  Groot
  Drax
  

• Hashes : It is similar to the one we have in python. we can create a hash using symbol keys as they are not-changeable once they are created, and can as perfect keys. Syntax :

  {key:value}

  Example: Ruby

  # way of creating hash
  hash1   = Hash.new
  
  # way of creating hash
  hash2   = {}
  
  # initializing values and keys
  hash1 = {"Quill" => 100, "Drax" => 200, "Gamora" => 300}
  
  # initializing values and keys with symbol keys
  hash2 = {Quill:1, Gamora:2}
  print(hash1.keys, "\n")
  print(hash2.keys, "\n")
  for i in hash2.keys do
  
  # : Should be used while checking before
  # its a part of the symbol key
      if i==:Quill 
  
      # Printing value and assigned key
          print(i, "=>", hash2[i], "\n")
      end
  end
  

  Output:

  ["Quill", "Drax", "Gamora"]
  [:Quill, :Gamora]
  Quill=>1
  

• Regular Expression : It is similar to the one we have in perl {/pattern/}. Regexps in ruby can be created with or without delimiters. Syntax :

  /pattern/ or %r{pattern}

  We can create a hash using symbol keys as they not-changeable once created they act as perfect key. Syntax :

  {key:value}

  Example: Ruby

  line1 = "guardians of the galaxy";
  line2 = "Doctor Strange";
  
  # Checks whether ‘of’ is in line1 in // format
  if ( line1 =~ /of(.*)/ )
     puts line1
  end
  
  # Checks whether ‘Doc’ is in line1 in %r{} format.
  if ( line2 =~ %r{Doc(.*)} )
     puts line2
  end
  
  # Checks whether ‘off’ is in line1 .
  if ( line2 =~ /off(.*)/ )
     puts line2
  else
      puts "nothing"
  end
  

  Output:

  guardians of the galaxy
  Doctor Strange
  nothing