How to add to an existing hash in Ruby

Question

In regards to adding an key => value pair to an existing populated hash in Ruby, I\'m in the process of working through Apress\' Beginning Ruby and have just fi

Answer 1

hash = { a: 'a', b: 'b' }
 => {:a=>"a", :b=>"b"}
hash.merge({ c: 'c', d: 'd' })
 => {:a=>"a", :b=>"b", :c=>"c", :d=>"d"} 

Returns the merged value.

hash
 => {:a=>"a", :b=>"b"} 

But doesn't modify the caller object

hash = hash.merge({ c: 'c', d: 'd' })
 => {:a=>"a", :b=>"b", :c=>"c", :d=>"d"} 
hash
 => {:a=>"a", :b=>"b", :c=>"c", :d=>"d"} 

Reassignment does the trick.