If you want to create an array of strings or symbols, Ruby provides a couple ofx handy shortcuts.

%w: word array generator.

irb(main):001:0> %w(ruby java python)
=> ["ruby", "java", "python"]

%i: symbol array generator

irb(main):004:0> %i(ruby java perl)
=> [:ruby, :java, :perl]

Both these methods also support square [] and curly bracktets {} along with the round () ones.

In addition, Ruby provides other similar methods to deal with various things.