default=(p1)
public
Sets the default value, the value returned for a key that does not exist in the hash. It is not possible to set the default to a Proc that will be executed on each key lookup.
h = { "a" => 100, "b" => 200 } h.default = "Go fish" h["a"] #=> 100 h["z"] #=> "Go fish" # This doesn't do what you might hope... h.default = proc do |hash, key| hash[key] = key + key end h[2] #=> #<Proc:0x401b3948@-:6> h["cat"] #=> #<Proc:0x401b3948@-:6>