Why are different outputs coming from an array with and without `puts`?

Question

What is the difference between puts a1.zip(a2) and a1.zip(a2)? Why do the outputs come out in different way?

a1 = %w{a b c}
a2 = %w{1 2 3}

a1.zip(a2)
# => [["a", "1"], ["b", "2"], ["c", "3"]]

puts a1.zip(a2)
# =>
# a
# 1
# b
# 2
# c
# 3
#=> nil

Why is this question getting downvoted? It's actually a very basic and good beginner's question about how the `irb` prompt works. All it needs is a better more generic title. — Casper, Jan 12 '13 at 12:54

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 12 '13 at 17:16

2

You are doing puts in one and just the zip call in the other. Why do you expect them to be the same?

puts does print each element of an array in its own line, which is what you see here. IRB by default uses inspect to print objects. While what you see is different, the output from the zip method in both the cases is the same.

edited Jan 12 '13 at 17:16

Andrew Marshall

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answered Jan 12 '13 at 12:22

manojlds

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Why are different outputs coming from an array with and without `puts`?

1 Answers1