FAQ: Blocks, Procs, and Lambdas - Lambda Syntax

Frequently Asked Questions Ruby FAQ
1

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This community-built FAQ covers the “Lambda Syntax” exercise from the lesson “Blocks, Procs, and Lambdas”.

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This exercise can be found in the following Codecademy content:

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FAQs on the exercise Lambda Syntax

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2

What’s the primary difference between using a block and not? I was messing around when I found that the first line worked just as well as the second.

symbolize = lambda(&:to_sym)

symbolize = lambda { |x| x.to_sym }

I don’t completely understand how the first non-block method works. It is a fair amount shorter - does it matter for one over the other?

3

symbolize = lambda { |x| x.magic! }

This is the hint. However, what is the point of the “!” within the lambda? I feel that as x is just an input and does not effect the output, you shouldn’t ever use an “!” in this case. Am I correct?

4

In this example we use &symbolize to call the Lambda symbolize. Earlier we were told use the & prefix to call a block and use .call to call a lambda?