What does to_proc method mean?

Question

I am learning rails and following this thread. I am stuck with the to_proc method. I consider symbols only as alternatives to strings (they are like strings but

Answer 1

For anybody still a bit stumped, running the following code might make things a little clearer:

class Symbol
  def to_proc
    proc do |obj|
      puts "Symbol proc: #{obj}.send(:#{self})"
      obj.send(self)
    end
  end
end

class Array
  def map(&block)
    copy = self.class.new
    self.each do |index|
      puts "Array.map:   copy << block.call(#{index})"
      copy << block.call(index)
    end
    copy
  end
end

remapped_array = [0, 1, 2].map &:to_s
puts "remapped array: #{remapped_array.inspect}"

These are not the actual implementations of Symbol.to_proc or Array.map, they are just simplified versions which I'm using to demonstrate how map &:to_s and similar calls work.