What is the difference between <%= … %> and <% … %> in Ruby on Rails

Question

Does it have something to do with output?

So, <%= ...code... %> is used for outputting after code is executed, and <% ...code... %>

Answer 1

Both execute the Ruby code contained within them. However, the different is in what they do with the returned value of the expression. <% ... %> will do nothing with the value. <%= ... %> will output the return value to whatever document it is executed in (typically a .erb or .rhtml document).

Something to note, <%= ... %> will automatically escape any HTML contained in text. If you want to include any conditional HTML statements, do it outside the <% ... %>.

<%= "
" if need_line_break %> 

<% if need_line_break %>


<% end %>