In Ruby, there are situations where you need to convert data types to strings to perform certain operations, especially when working with numbers and arrays. Let’s explore this further.
Converting Numbers to Strings
You will get an error
with the following code:
The error message says,
no implicit conversion of Integer into String.
In simple English, Ruby is saying
that we cannot add an
integer with a string.
This makes sense.
We should be able to add two numbers.
We should be able to add two strings.
However, we should not be allowed
to add a string and a number.
To solve this problem, we need to convert
the integer into a string.
Ruby provides the to_s method
to convert an integer to string.
to_s stands for "to string".
Let's use to_s on 24 to make it a string.
Converting Arrays to Strings
Arrays can also be converted to strings, especially when you want to print them in a readable format. Consider the following example:
Here, when we use puts directly on the array, it prints each element on a new line. But using to_s on these arrays ensures that, when we print them, the entire structure is shown in a single line as a string, making the output more readable and easy to understand.