title: Rails: What is `sanitize` in Rails?
body: <p>What does <code>sanitize</code> mean in Rails?</p>
  
  <p>I'm reading through the documentation for <code>CanCanCan</code>. It says:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>When using strong_parameters or Rails 4+, you have to sanitize inputs
    before saving the record, in actions such as :create and :update.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Then per documentation, it requires adding the below:</p>
  
  <pre><code>load_and_authorize_resource param_method: :my_sanitizer
  
  def my_sanitizer
    params.require(:article).permit(:name)
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Source: <a href="https://github.com/CanCanCommunity/cancancan" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/CanCanCommunity/cancancan</a></p>
  
  <p>I've also seen <code>sanitize</code> in the area of SQL queries.</p>
  
  <p>What does <code>sanitize</code> mean actually. Does it just mean to allow something?</p>