Question

Is it appropriate to use integers as keys in a Ruby hash?

Every example from documentation shows a string or symbol being used as a key, but never an integer.

Internally, would integers somehow get converted to strings? I have seen some conflicting information on the subject.

In other words, is there any significant disadvantage to using integer keys to a hash?

Answer 1

of course you can use integers as keys…

h = {1 => 'one', 2 => 'two', 3 => 'three'}

(1..3).each do |i|
  puts h[i]
end
 

=>

one
two
there

irb is your friend! try it..

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In fact you can use any Ruby object as the key (or the value).
We usually don’t think about using Hashes like this, but it could be quite useful.

Edit:
As Óscar López points out, the object just has to respond to .hash for it to work as a key in a Ruby Hash.