We have looked into many of the data structures that are supported by ruby along with brief examples of their use and structures. Now we turn to the different data types the language supports which is vital in maximizing the potential of Ruby. Numbers are classified into integers and floating point numbers. The handling capabilities of Ruby when it comes to integers is dependent on the amount of memory you have installed on your computer. They are also classified into two object classes stored in either the Fixnum or Bignum classes. Ruby handles conversion to and from these two types automatically and stores them in binary form in their respective classes. Integers can also be used with optional lead signs that denote octal, hex, or binary.
Integer values can also be translated into their ASCII character set equivalents with the use of a ? before the variable. The term numeric literal that is denoted by an exponent or a decimal point is converted into a Float object in correspondence to the native language’s double data type. To obtain the absolute value of an integer you use the form aNumber.abs and not abs(aNumber) as with C and C++.