Ruby Strings

Introduction to Ruby Strings

In Ruby, strings are a sequence of characters enclosed within single (') or double (") quotes. They are mutable, meaning you can change their content without creating a new string. This makes them versatile for various operations involving text manipulation.

Creating Strings in Ruby

Strings can be created in Ruby using both single and double quotes. Double quotes allow for string interpolation and escape sequences, whereas single quotes do not.

Common String Methods

Ruby provides a rich set of methods for string manipulation. Here are a few commonly used methods:

• gsub: Replaces all occurrences of a pattern with a specified replacement.
• upcase: Converts all characters of the string to uppercase.
• downcase: Converts all characters of the string to lowercase.
• strip: Removes leading and trailing whitespace.

Mutable vs Immutable Strings

Unlike some other programming languages, Ruby strings are mutable. This means you can modify them in place without creating a new object. This behavior can be beneficial for performance, especially when performing many operations on a string.

String Interpolation

String interpolation is a powerful feature in Ruby that allows you to embed expressions within a string. This is done using the #{} syntax and is only available with double-quoted strings.

Conclusion

Ruby strings are a fundamental part of the language, offering flexibility through mutability and a host of methods for manipulation. Whether you're modifying text, performing replacements, or embedding dynamic content, Ruby strings provide the tools you need.