title: Ruby : `&:symbol` syntax
body: <blockquote>
    <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
    <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1961030/ruby-ruby-on-rails-ampersand-colon-shortcut">Ruby/Ruby on Rails ampersand colon shortcut</a>  </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Seen in <a href="http://railscasts.com/episodes/167" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Railscast #167</a> : </p>
  
  <pre><code>def tag_names
      @tag_names || tags.map(&amp;:name).join(' ')
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What is this <code>&amp;:name</code> syntax, what does it do ?</p>
  
  <p>I understand what a symbol is, but what other kinds of objects this <code>&amp;</code> can be prepended to ?</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>Duplicate question : <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1961030/ruby-ruby-on-rails-ampersand-colon-shortcut">Ruby ampersand colon shortcut</a></p>