Ruby idioms : The splat operator.
The split mode :
pet1, pet2, pet3 = *["duck","dog","cat"]
The collect mode :
*zoo = pet1, pet2, pet3
The splat operator can be used in a case statement :
BOARD_MEMBERS = ['Jan', 'Julie', 'Archie', 'Stewick'] HISTORIANS = ['Braith', 'Dewey', 'Eduardo']case name when *BOARD_MEMBERS "You're on the board! A congratulations is in order." when *HISTORIANS "You are busy chronicling every deft play." when *HISTORIANS|BOARD_MEMBERS "We welcome you all to the First International Symposium of Board Members and Historians Alike." end
We can also use the splat operator to create a Hash object form a array of pairs.
a = [[:planes, 21], [:cars, 36]] h = Hash[*a] # => { :planes=>21, :cars=>36}
The Plan A 
[…] operator by the name of “splat.” Searching for “splat operator” turned up this page, describing how it works. Turns out *Array is special and is used to turn an Array into a list of […]
Hi there. What’s the functional difference between
pet1, pet2, pet3 = *[“duck”, “dog”, “cat”]
and
pet1, pet2, pet3 = [“horse”, “cow”, “goat”]
I get the same results–namely, each pet gets one value from the array.
Maybe the examples were so simple to demonstrate the different.
>> pets = [“dog”, “cat”]
=> [“dog”, “cat”]
>> pet_store = [“mole”, “duck”, pets]
=> [“mole”, “duck”, [“dog”, “cat”]]
>> pet_store = [“mole”, “duck”, *pets]
=> [“mole”, “duck”, “dog”, “cat”]
But, the splat array must be always the last element of the array.
pet_store = [*pets, “mole”, “duck”]
SyntaxError: compile error
(irb):4: syntax error, unexpected ‘,’, expecting ‘]’
pet_store = [*pets, “mole”, “duck”]
^
(irb):4: syntax error, unexpected ‘,’, expecting $end
pet_store = [*pets, “mole”, “duck”]
^
from (irb):4
You can use this to define variable parameter functions or methods.
>> def pets(*mammals)
>> mammals
>> end
=> nil
>> pets :monkey, :dog
=> [:monkey, :dog]
>> pets :monkey, :dog, :cat
=> [:monkey, :dog, :cat]
It may also help to note that ‘splat’ returns a copy of the instance that it’s used with, whereas not using ‘splat’ returns a reference to the instance.
Ex.\
[
>group = [“blue”, “green”, “pink”]
>painting = [“paintbrush”, “canvas”, group]
>group[2] = “purple”
>puts painting
gives us: paintbrush, canvas, blue, green, purple
]
[
>group = [“blue”, “green”, “pink”]
>painting = [“paintbrush”, “canvas”, *group]
>group[2] = “purple”
>puts painting
gives us: paintbrush, canvas, blue, green, pink
]
[…] closest I have come to finding any other good explanation of this on the web is this post and its comments. Interestingly, it points out how splat works in the context of assignment rather […]
[…] the *_find_page does. Can anyone explain it to me? It’s called the ‘splat’ operator. see e.g. https://theplana.wordpress.com/2007/0…plat-operator/ http://redhanded.hobix.com/bits/theSiphoningSplat.html […]
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when *HISTORIANS|BOARD_MEMBERS
has to go before the others, otherwise you’ll get the board members string instead.
[…] Ruby idioms : The splat operator. « The Plan A […]
You’re wrong with here:
a = [[:planes, 21], [:cars, 36]]
h = Hash[*a] # => { :planes=>21, :cars=>36}
The result of that is actually:
{[:planes, 21]=>[:cars, 36]}
which means the key is [:planes, 21], which is valid but not expected.
h[[:planes, 21]] # => [:cars, 36]
to work as expected you have to do this:
h = Hash[*a.flatten] # => { :planes=>21, :cars=>36}
Thanks for sharing.
Look, I just made a post on the splat operator => http://bit.ly/raflabs_foo_splat
the pet store here in our area offers me a great deal of discount when i buy from them ‘”*
[…] Although still in the early stages of development, phuby already brings Ruby mixins to PHP, splat capabilities, and send and respond_to methods, among other features. Planned features include […]
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[…] Although still in the early stages of development, phuby already brings Ruby mixins to PHP, splat capabilities, and send and respond_to methods, among other features. Planned features include […]
[…] the splat operator. You’ll often see it used to split an array into parameters to a […]