Best way to convert strings to symbols in hash

Question

What\'s the (fastest/cleanest/straightforward) way to convert all keys in a hash from strings to symbols in Ruby?

This would be handy when parsing YAML.

Answer 1

if you're using Rails, it is much simpler - you can use a HashWithIndifferentAccess and access the keys both as String and as Symbols:

my_hash.with_indifferent_access 

see also:

http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/HashWithIndifferentAccess.html

---

Or you can use the awesome "Facets of Ruby" Gem, which contains a lot of extensions to Ruby Core and Standard Library classes.

  require 'facets'
  > {'some' => 'thing', 'foo' => 'bar'}.symbolize_keys
    =>  {:some=>"thing", :foo=>"bar}

see also: http://rubyworks.github.io/rubyfaux/?doc=http://rubyworks.github.io/facets/docs/facets-2.9.3/core.json#api-class-Hash