# Symbols similiar to defined in c++? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [March 4, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742 "2006-03-04T20:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/1 "2006-03-04T20:31:43Z")
would it be safe to say that I can use symbols in the same manner as a defined variable in c++ define n 9 void main() { for (index=0; while index \< n,index++) print index while } ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/2 "2006-03-04T20:49:57Z")
Servando G. wrote: > Not really. In C++ you’re assigning a symbolic name to a number. You pick the name and you pick the number. In Ruby, all you do is pick the name. Ruby picks a number to assign to it. You don’t get to choose, and you don’t even get to find out what the number is (at least, without a lot of poking around in Ruby internals). Ruby guarantees you that no matter where and when you use the symbol in your program, the symbol will refer to the identical number. That’s all there is to symbols. ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/3 "2006-03-04T21:05:04Z")
Tim H. wrote: > Not really. In C++ you’re assigning a symbolic name to a number. You > pick the name and you pick the number. In Ruby, all you do is pick the > name. Ruby picks a number to assign to it. You don’t get to choose, and > you don’t even get to find out what the number is (at least, without a > lot of poking around in Ruby internals). Ruby guarantees you that no > matter where and when you use the symbol in your program, the symbol > will refer to the identical number. That’s all there is to symbols. Oops. Forgot. Also, Ruby guarantees that no two different symbols will ever be assigned the same number. ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/4 "2006-03-04T21:50:22Z")
On Mar 4, 2006, at 2:29 PM, Servando G. wrote: > You are looking for a constant (in ruby terms) N = 9 # Constants must start with a capital letter ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/5 "2006-03-04T23:54:49Z")
Logan C. wrote: > > print index I am not looking for a constant. I am just trying to understand the uses for Symbols. I have been programing for about six years now; and have never encountered this symbols concept. I am just trying to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/6 "2006-03-05T00:34:04Z")
A symbol is represented internally as a number (an index in the symbol table), but when programming in Ruby this is neither important nor visible. You may have seen in many C libraries how enums are used to represent possible states. A number is used internally, but you use the constant created in the enum as a label for a possible state or one of a few possible options. This makes your program more easily understood and much more easily altered. In Ruby, a symbol is like the constant created in a C enumumeration. You can’t control the number assigned, and symbols have no logical order, but two symbols with the same name will always be equal within any Ruby process. You use them in many of the same places you would use an enum. If you want your Warrior class to have the states ‘able’, ‘injured’, or ‘dead’, you could use the symbols :able, :injured, and :dead. These are much faster to compare than the strings ‘able’, ‘injured’ and ‘dead’ as they are converted internally to a numeric representation. Think of a symbol as a string which is faster to compare with other symbols but is slower to convert to a string for display or alteration of the associated text. If you need to display something a lot or add to the text associated with a symbol, it should probably be a string instead. If a string is being used mostly as a label of state, it should probably be a symbol instead. ---
**Author:** ![Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Servando\_G](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Servando_G)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/symbols-similiar-to-defined-in-c/76742/7 "2006-03-06T16:23:04Z")
Tim H. wrote: > You don’t get to choose, > and you don’t even get to find out what the number is (at least, > without a lot of poking around in Ruby internals). Not really â?? finding out the number is easy: ``` irb(main):001:0> :foo.to_i => 15321 ```