Convert Ruby Date to Integer

Question

How can I convert a Ruby Date to an integer?

Answer 1

Solution for Ruby 1.8 when you have an arbitrary DateTime object:

1.8.7-p374 :001 > require 'date'
 => true 
1.8.7-p374 :002 > DateTime.new(2012, 1, 15).strftime('%s')
 => "1326585600"