Iterating and Incrementing Strings in Ruby

You can convert a string into a float (Float) or integer (Fixnum). To convert a string into a float, or, more precisely, an instance of the Stringclass into an instance ofFloat, use theto_fmethod:

  "200".class # => String
  "200".to_f # => 200.0
  "200".to_f.class # => Float

Likewise, to convert a string to an integer, useto_i:

  "100".class # => String
  "100".to_i # => 100
  "100".to_i.class # => Fixnum

To convert a string into a symbol (Symbolclass), you can use either theto_symorinternmethods.

  "name".intern # => :name
  "name".to_sym # => :name

The value of the string, not its name, becomes the symbol:

  play = "The Merchant of Venice".intern # => :"The Merchant of Venice"

Convert an object to a string withto_s. Ruby calls theto_smethod from the class of the object, not theStringclass (parentheses are optional).

  (256.0).class # => Float
  (256.0).to_s # => "256.0"