Is there a literal notation for an array of symbols?
Yes! This is possible now in Ruby 2.0.0. One way to write it is:
%i{foo bar} # => [:foo, :bar]You can also use other delimiters, so you could also write %i(foo bar) or %i!foo bar! for example.
This feature was originally announced here:
http://www.ruby-lang.org/zh_TW/news/2012/11/02/ruby-2-0-0-preview1-released/
It is mentioned in the official documentation of Ruby here:
http://ruby-doc.org/core/doc/syntax/literals_rdoc.html#label-Percent+Strings
In Ruby 1.x, unfortunately the list of available %-delimiters is limited
Modifier Meaning%q[ ] Non-interpolated String (except for \\ \[ and \])%Q[ ] Interpolated String (default)%r[ ] Interpolated Regexp (flags can appear after the closing delimiter)%s[ ] Non-interpolated Symbol%w[ ] Non-interpolated Array of words, separated by whitespace%W[ ] Interpolated Array of words, separated by whitespace%x[ ] Interpolated shell command