Ruby * operator before array

Question

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Understanding ruby splat in ranges and arrays

could anyone tell me what the * does in the following piece of code?

line = "name=yabbi;language=ruby;"
Hash[*line.split(/=|;/)]

Thanks.

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 19 '13 at 06:49

12

* is the splat operator. It is used to split an array into a list of arguments.

line.split(/=|;/) returns an array. To create a Hash, each element of the array must be passed as an individual parameter.

answered Jan 19 '13 at 06:49

rohit89

thanks! just so that I have it clear, all it really does is take that array and turn it into a 'list' of arguments so that the Hash can accept it (in this case anyways, it seems to have many uses)? – yabbi Jan 19 '13 at 06:54
Yup. `Hash[]` does not take arrays as an argument so we have to "explode" the elements into individual parameters. – rohit89 Jan 19 '13 at 06:57

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 19 '13 at 06:47

1

it's a splat operator Read about it. Often times you see it used when you want to split up an array to use as parameters of a function.

answered Jan 19 '13 at 06:47

Rachel Gallen

2 Answers2