Learn to Program, 2nd Edition

Diversion: Double-Quoted Strings

So far, we’ve used only single-quoted strings. They are the easiest to use, in the same sense that a shovel is easier to use than a backhoe: when the job gets big enough, it stops being easier.

Consider multiline strings:

buffy_quote_1 = '\'Kiss rocks\'?
                 Why would anyone want to kiss...
                 Oh, wait. I get it.'
buffy_quote_2 = "'Kiss rocks'?\n" +
                "Why would anyone want to kiss...\n" +
                "Oh, wait. I get it."
puts buffy_quote_1
puts
puts(buffy_quote_1 == buffy_quote_2)

'Kiss rocks'?
                 Why would anyone want to kiss...
                 Oh, wait. I get it.
false

Using double quotes, we can indent the strings so they all line up. You’ll notice the “\n”, which is the escape sequence for the newline character. With this, you ...