Casting

In Ruby, the language comes with a variety of building typecasting methods for converting values from one data type to another.

Syntax

For the most part methods usually begin with to_[data-type].

To Integer

To convert from String to Integer, use to_i:

meaning_of_life = "42"

puts meaning_of_life.class # Output: String

meaning_of_life = meaning_of_life.to_i

puts meaning_of_life.class # Output: Integer

To Float

To convert from String to Float-type, use to_f:

meaning_of_life = "42.0"

puts meaning_of_life.class # Output: String

meaning_of_life = meaning_of_life.to_f

puts meaning_of_life.class # Output: Float

To Array

To convert an Object to an Array, use to_a:

myObj = {
  name: "Denise",
  occupation: "Software Engineer"
}

puts myObj.to_a

The output would be:

name
Denise
occupation
Software Engineer