Table of contents

Introduction

String Interpolation

String Interpolation Using the sprintf Method

Frequently Asked Questions

4.1.

What are Objects in Ruby?

4.2.

What is a String in Ruby?

4.3.

What is Multibyte Character in Ruby?

4.4.

What is string interpolation in Ruby?

4.5.

What are Global Functions in Ruby?

Conclusion

Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

String Interpolation with sprintf in Ruby

Q: What are Objects in Ruby?

In Ruby, everything is an object. All objects have a unique identification; they can also maintain a state and exhibit behavior in response to messages. Usually, these messages are sent out via method calls. A string is an example of a Ruby object.

Q: What is Multibyte Character in Ruby?

A character made up of sequences of one or more bytes is known as a Multibyte Character. Each byte sequence represents the extended character set as a single character.

Q: What are Global Functions in Ruby?

Kernel-specified methods and any methods defined at the top-level, outside of any classes, are Global Functions. Global functions are defined as private methods of the Object class.

Author Rajat Agrawal

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Introduction

Ruby is a general-purpose, dynamic, reflective, object-oriented programming language. Everything in Ruby is an object. Ruby's development aimed to create a user interface between human programmers and the underlying computational machinery.

The string data type is the most common data type found in all the programming languages.

A string is a collection of one or more characters, which might be letters, numbers, or symbols. In contrast to other programming languages, Ruby's strings are objects that may be modified in-place rather than replaced entirely.

Let’s learn about String Interpolation in Ruby.

String Interpolation

String interpolation is the process of replacing specified variables or expressions in a given String with acceptable values. It is all about concatenating strings together but not using the + operator.

String interpolation only functions when the string creation is done using double quotes (" "). String literals may be processed simply using String Interpolation.

Syntax:

#{variable}

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The above syntax indicates that the elements inside the curly braces { } are variables or executable objects.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example.

Example1:

name = "Ninjas"
designation1 = "Developers"
designation2 = "Data Scientists"

#string interpolation
puts "#{name} are #{designation1} and #{designation2}."

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Output:

Ninjas are Developers and Data Scientists.

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In the above example, we see that the variables name, desigantion1, and designation2 are easily interpolated in the string using string interpolation.

Example2:

var1 = 10
var2 = 20

#string interpolation
puts "var1 is greater than var2: #{var1>var2}."
puts "var1 is less than var2: #{var1<var2}."

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Output:

var1 is greater than var2: false.
var1 is less than var2: true.

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In the above example, we see that we can also perform any type of operations on variables inside the curly braces { }. Since the var1 is less than var2, it gives false in the case of var1>var2 and true in the case of var1<var2.

String Interpolation Using the sprintf Method

In Ruby, we apply the sprintf method to ease the creation of formatted string data.

We use the percentage sign (" % ") to specify a format code within a string. Additionally, we use the "," or "%" symbol after the string to indicate the variables.

Let’s understand this with the help of an example.

Example1:

# using sprintf method
res1 = sprintf("PI is about %.4f", Math::PI)
res2 = sprintf("Coding %s", "Ninjas")
puts res1
puts res2

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Output:

PI is about 3.1416
Coding Ninjas

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In the above example, we can see that we can interpolate the variables into a string using the sprintf function.

The advantage of this type of interpolation is that the format string may provide parameters, such as the number of decimal places to show in a Float.

There is even an operator form of the sprintf function. To use it, just place a percent operator between a format string and the parameters to be interpolated into it.

Example2:

# using % operator method
res1 = "PI is about %.4f" % Math::PI
res2 = "Coding %s" % "Ninjas"
puts res1
puts res2

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Output:

PI is about 3.1416
Coding Ninjas

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In the above example, we can see that we don't even have to write the sprintf if we are using the % operator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Objects in Ruby?

In Ruby, everything is an object. All objects have a unique identification; they can also maintain a state and exhibit behaviour in response to messages. Usually, these messages are sent out via method calls. A string is an example of a Ruby object.

What is a String in Ruby?

A string is a collection of one or more characters, which might be letters, numbers, or symbols. Ruby's strings are objects that may be modified in-place rather than replaced entirely.

What is Multibyte Character in Ruby?

A character made up of sequences of one or more bytes is known as a Multibyte Character. Each byte sequence represents the extended character set as a single character.

What is string interpolation in Ruby?

What are Global Functions in Ruby?

Kernel-specified methods and any methods defined at the top-level, outside of any classes, are Global Functions. Global functions are defined as private methods of the Object class.