including spaces while using %w

Question

The following code produces the output "xyz"

a = %w{x y z} 
print a.to_s

Is there an option that can be added to the block to allow spaces to be added?

For example, I thought that by changing the code to this I might be able to space-separate the elements to produce an output of "x y z"

a = %w{"x " "y " "z "}
print a.to_s

Instead it produces this:

"x""y""z"

Answer 1

Don't use %w for this--it's a shortcut for when you want to split an array from words. Otherwise, use the standard array notation:

a = ["x ", "y ", "z "]

Answer 2

You can include spaces by backslash-escaping them (then adding an additional space as a separator).

a = %w{x\  y\  z\ }

This can become hard to read though. If you want to put explicit quotation marks in there, you don't need %w{}, just use a normal comma-delimited array with [].

Answer 3

a = ["xyz"].split("").join(" ")

or

a = ["x","y","z"].join(" ")

or

a = %w(x y z).join(" ")

Answer 4

def explain
  puts "double quote equivalents"
  p "a b c", %Q{a b c}, %Q(a b c), %(a b c), %<a b c>, %!a b c! # & etc
  puts

  puts "single quote equivalents"
  p 'a b c', %q{a b c}, %q(a b c), %q<a b c>, %q!a b c! # & etc.
  puts

  puts "single-quote whitespace split equivalents"
  p %w{a b c}, 'a b c'.split, 'a b c'.split(" ")
  puts

  puts "double-quote whitespace split equivalents"
  p %W{a b c}, "a b c".split, "a b c".split(" ")
  puts
end

explain

def extra_credit
  puts "Extra Credit"
  puts

  test_class = Class.new do
    def inspect() 'inspect was called' end
    def to_s() 'to_s was called' end
  end

  puts "print"
  print test_class.new
  puts "(print calls to_s and doesn't add a newline)"
  puts

  puts "puts"
  puts test_class.new
  puts "(puts calls to_s and adds a newline)"
  puts

  puts "p"
  p test_class.new
  puts "(p calls inspect and adds a newline)"
  puts
end

extra_credit