Why doesn't assigning a variable to an array yield expected results in Ruby?

Question

Using IRB, I tested the following:

C:\Pickaxe>irb
irb(main):001:0> list_of_strings = %w{ a list of strings in an array }
=> ["a", "list", "of", "strings", "in", "an", "array"]
irb(main):002:0> a, b, c = list_of_strings
=> ["a", "list", "of", "strings", "in", "an", "array"]
irb(main):003:0> a
=> "a"
irb(main):004:0> b
=> "list"
irb(main):005:0> c
=> "of"
irb(main):006:0>

In the other languages I've developed in setting a, b, c = d sets the values of a, b and c to equal d in its entirety. Here they are set to successive elements in the array.

I don't understand how or why this works. Could someone shed light on the issue?

Answer 1

That's just how array assignment works in Ruby. It's trying to be clever, a little, by assigning each indexed item of the array to that variable on the left-hand side of the assignment =