How to initialize an array in one step using Ruby?

You can use an array literal:

array = [ '1', '2', '3' ]

You can also use a range:

array = ('1'..'3').to_a  # parentheses are required
# or
array = *('1'..'3')      # parentheses not required, but included for clarity

For arrays of whitespace-delimited strings, you can use Percent String syntax:

array = %w[ 1 2 3 ]

You can also pass a block to Array.new to determine what the value for each entry will be:

array = Array.new(3) { |i| (i+1).to_s }

Finally, although it doesn’t produce the same array of three strings as the other answers above, note also that you can use enumerators in Ruby 1.8.7+ to create arrays; for example:

array = 1.step(17,3).to_a
#=> [1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16]