# Noob ? - Diff Between "action =\> :index" and "action =\> 'index'"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [April 25, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864 "2008-04-25T19:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/1 "2008-04-25T19:18:18Z")
What is the difference between specifiying a link\_to action with a “:” vs. “’’” ? Example: \<%= link\_to “Continue your spree”, :action =\> :index %\> vs. \<%= link\_to “Continue your spree”, :action =\> ‘index’ %\> Is there one? ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/2 "2008-04-25T20:19:28Z")
Are there any benefits (from a programming perspective) of using one convention over the other? tnx On Apr 25, 10:18 am, Frederick C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/3 "2008-04-25T19:19:29Z")
On 25 Apr 2008, at 17:48, RoRNoob wrote: > \<%= link\_to “Continue your spree”, :action =\> ‘index’ %\> > > Is there one? > In one case you’re passing the string ‘index’ and in the other case a > symbol. rails doesn’t care though. Fred ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/4 "2008-04-25T22:04:45Z")
Without getting into the details, symbols use less memory. ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/5 "2008-04-25T22:05:55Z")
On 25 Apr 2008, at 21:03, AndyV wrote: > Without getting into the details, symbols use less memory. On the other hand they can’t be garbage collected. In practical terms, I don’t think it makes much difference either way. Fred ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/6 "2008-04-25T22:07:46Z")
But symbols never get GC’d. So use enough symbols, and you permanently use more memory. My rule of thumb for symbol use: - hash keys - config specifications (has\_many :my\_things) - State designators (:open, :closed) If it’s a name of something , or something that gets displayed to the user, in most cases I’ll use strings. Jason ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/7 "2008-04-26T01:07:12Z")
Jason R. wrote: > But symbols never get GC’d. So use enough symbols, and you permanently > use more memory. > > My rule of thumb for symbol use: > > - hash keys > - config specifications (has\_many :my\_things) > - State designators (:open, :closed) > > If it’s a name of something , or something that gets displayed to the > user, in most cases I’ll use strings. > > Jason The memory argument is moot in Rails as it uses both. See HashWithIndifferentAccess: [http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/HashWithIndifferentAccess.html](http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/HashWithIndifferentAccess.html) Rails’ hashes use both. ---
**Author:** ![rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rornoob](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/rornoob)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/noob-diff-between-action-index-and-action-index/135864/8 "2008-04-26T10:56:20Z")
On 26 Apr 2008, at 00:07, Daniel W. wrote: > > > > Rails’ hashes use both. > Nearly nothing uses HashWithIndifferentAccess, (only the params hash I > think). Deep down on the inside, it’s a hash with string keys, but if > you give it a symbol key it will convert that to a string first (and > some other niceties related to that). Fred