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

How about this:

my_hash = HashWithIndifferentAccess.new(YAML.load_file('yml'))

# my_hash['key'] => "val"
# my_hash[:key]  => "val"