neat.erb

<%= form_tag("/search", :method => "get") do %>
  <%= label_tag(:q, "Search for:") %>
  <%= text_field_tag(:q) %>
  <%= submit_tag("Search") %>
<% end %>
This will generate the following HTML:

<form accept-charset="UTF-8" action="/search" method="get">
  <label for="q">Search for:</label>
  <input id="q" name="q" type="text" />
  <input name="commit" type="submit" value="Search" />
</form>

for #=> text_field_tag(:q)

Why are we passing a :q? Why not "q" .. the user puts in :q and the code runs :q.to_s ... what is the benefit of this?

Apparently the reason is that strings are garbage collecting while symbols are not