class Array

Arrays are ordered, integer-indexed collections of any object.

Array indexing starts at 0, as in C or Java. A negative index is assumed to be relative to the end of the array—that is, an index of -1 indicates the last element of the array, -2 is the next to last element in the array, and so on.

Creating Arrays¶ ↑

A new array can be created by using the literal constructor []. Arrays can contain different types of objects. For example, the array below contains an Integer, a String and a Float:

ary = [1, "two", 3.0] #=> [1, "two", 3.0]

An array can also be created by explicitly calling Array.new with zero, one (the initial size of the Array) or two arguments (the initial size and a default object).

ary = Array.new    #=> []
Array.new(3)       #=> [nil, nil, nil]
Array.new(3, true) #=> [true, true, true]

Note that the second argument populates the array with references to the same object. Therefore, it is only recommended in cases when you need to instantiate arrays with natively immutable objects such as Symbols, numbers, true or false.

To create an array with separate objects a block can be passed instead. This method is safe to use with mutable objects such as hashes, strings or other arrays:

Array.new(4) {Hash.new}    #=> [{}, {}, {}, {}]
Array.new(4) {|i| i.to_s } #=> ["0", "1", "2", "3"]

This is also a quick way to build up multi-dimensional arrays:

empty_table = Array.new(3) {Array.new(3)}
#=> [[nil, nil, nil], [nil, nil, nil], [nil, nil, nil]]

An array can also be created by using the Array() method, provided by Kernel, which tries to call to_ary, then to_a on its argument.

Array({:a => "a", :b => "b"}) #=> [[:a, "a"], [:b, "b"]]

Example Usage¶ ↑

In addition to the methods it mixes in through the Enumerable module, the Array class has proprietary methods for accessing, searching and otherwise manipulating arrays.

Some of the more common ones are illustrated below.

Accessing Elements¶ ↑

Elements in an array can be retrieved using the Array#[] method. It can take a single integer argument (a numeric index), a pair of arguments (start and length) or a range. Negative indices start counting from the end, with -1 being the last element.

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
arr[2]    #=> 3
arr[100]  #=> nil
arr[-3]   #=> 4
arr[2, 3] #=> [3, 4, 5]
arr[1..4] #=> [2, 3, 4, 5]
arr[1..-3] #=> [2, 3, 4]

Another way to access a particular array element is by using the at method

arr.at(0) #=> 1

The slice method works in an identical manner to Array#[].

To raise an error for indices outside of the array bounds or else to provide a default value when that happens, you can use fetch.

arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f']
arr.fetch(100) #=> IndexError: index 100 outside of array bounds: -6...6
arr.fetch(100, "oops") #=> "oops"

The special methods first and last will return the first and last elements of an array, respectively.

arr.first #=> 1
arr.last  #=> 6

To return the first n elements of an array, use take

arr.take(3) #=> [1, 2, 3]

drop does the opposite of take, by returning the elements after n elements have been dropped:

arr.drop(3) #=> [4, 5, 6]

Obtaining Information about an `Array`¶ ↑

Arrays keep track of their own length at all times. To query an array about the number of elements it contains, use length, count or size.

browsers = ['Chrome', 'Firefox', 'Safari', 'Opera', 'IE']
browsers.length #=> 5
browsers.count #=> 5

To check whether an array contains any elements at all

browsers.empty? #=> false

To check whether a particular item is included in the array

browsers.include?('Konqueror') #=> false

Adding Items to Arrays¶ ↑

Items can be added to the end of an array by using either push or <<

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]
arr.push(5) #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
arr << 6    #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

unshift will add a new item to the beginning of an array.

arr.unshift(0) #=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

With insert you can add a new element to an array at any position.

arr.insert(3, 'apple')  #=> [0, 1, 2, 'apple', 3, 4, 5, 6]

Using the insert method, you can also insert multiple values at once:

arr.insert(3, 'orange', 'pear', 'grapefruit')
#=> [0, 1, 2, "orange", "pear", "grapefruit", "apple", 3, 4, 5, 6]

Removing Items from an `Array`¶ ↑

The method pop removes the last element in an array and returns it:

arr =  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.pop #=> 6
arr #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

To retrieve and at the same time remove the first item, use shift:

arr.shift #=> 1
arr #=> [2, 3, 4, 5]

To delete an element at a particular index:

arr.delete_at(2) #=> 4
arr #=> [2, 3, 5]

To delete a particular element anywhere in an array, use delete:

arr = [1, 2, 2, 3]
arr.delete(2) #=> 2
arr #=> [1,3]

A useful method if you need to remove nil values from an array is compact:

arr = ['foo', 0, nil, 'bar', 7, 'baz', nil]
arr.compact  #=> ['foo', 0, 'bar', 7, 'baz']
arr          #=> ['foo', 0, nil, 'bar', 7, 'baz', nil]
arr.compact! #=> ['foo', 0, 'bar', 7, 'baz']
arr          #=> ['foo', 0, 'bar', 7, 'baz']

Another common need is to remove duplicate elements from an array.

It has the non-destructive uniq, and destructive method uniq!

arr = [2, 5, 6, 556, 6, 6, 8, 9, 0, 123, 556]
arr.uniq #=> [2, 5, 6, 556, 8, 9, 0, 123]

Iterating over Arrays¶ ↑

Like all classes that include the Enumerable module, Array has an each method, which defines what elements should be iterated over and how. In case of Array's each, all elements in the Array instance are yielded to the supplied block in sequence.

Note that this operation leaves the array unchanged.

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
arr.each {|a| print a -= 10, " "}
# prints: -9 -8 -7 -6 -5
#=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Another sometimes useful iterator is reverse_each which will iterate over the elements in the array in reverse order.

words = %w[first second third fourth fifth sixth]
str = ""
words.reverse_each {|word| str += "#{word} "}
p str #=> "sixth fifth fourth third second first "

The map method can be used to create a new array based on the original array, but with the values modified by the supplied block:

arr.map {|a| 2*a}     #=> [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
arr                   #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
arr.map! {|a| a**2}   #=> [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]
arr                   #=> [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

Selecting Items from an `Array`¶ ↑

Elements can be selected from an array according to criteria defined in a block. The selection can happen in a destructive or a non-destructive manner. While the destructive operations will modify the array they were called on, the non-destructive methods usually return a new array with the selected elements, but leave the original array unchanged.

Non-destructive Selection¶ ↑

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.select {|a| a > 3}       #=> [4, 5, 6]
arr.reject {|a| a < 3}       #=> [3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.drop_while {|a| a < 4}   #=> [4, 5, 6]
arr                          #=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Destructive Selection¶ ↑

select! and reject! are the corresponding destructive methods to select and reject

Similar to select vs. reject, delete_if and keep_if have the exact opposite result when supplied with the same block:

arr.delete_if {|a| a < 4}   #=> [4, 5, 6]
arr                         #=> [4, 5, 6]

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.keep_if {|a| a < 4}   #=> [1, 2, 3]
arr                       #=> [1, 2, 3]

for pack.c

Public Class Methods

[](*args) click to toggle source

Returns a new array populated with the given objects.

Array.[]( 1, 'a', /^A/)  # => [1, "a", /^A/]
Array[ 1, 'a', /^A/ ]    # => [1, "a", /^A/]
[ 1, 'a', /^A/ ]         # => [1, "a", /^A/]

static VALUE
rb_ary_s_create(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE klass)
{
    VALUE ary = ary_new(klass, argc);
    if (argc > 0 && argv) {
        ary_memcpy(ary, 0, argc, argv);
        ARY_SET_LEN(ary, argc);
    }

    return ary;
}

new(size=0, default=nil) click to toggle source

new(array)

new(size) {|index| block }

Returns a new array.

In the first form, if no arguments are sent, the new array will be empty. When a size and an optional default are sent, an array is created with size copies of default. Take notice that all elements will reference the same object default.

The second form creates a copy of the array passed as a parameter (the array is generated by calling to_ary on the parameter).

first_array = ["Matz", "Guido"]

second_array = Array.new(first_array) #=> ["Matz", "Guido"]

first_array.equal? second_array       #=> false

In the last form, an array of the given size is created. Each element in this array is created by passing the element's index to the given block and storing the return value.

Array.new(3) {|index| index ** 2}
# => [0, 1, 4]

Common gotchas¶ ↑

When sending the second parameter, the same object will be used as the value for all the array elements:

a = Array.new(2, Hash.new)
# => [{}, {}]

a[0]['cat'] = 'feline'
a # => [{"cat"=>"feline"}, {"cat"=>"feline"}]

a[1]['cat'] = 'Felix'
a # => [{"cat"=>"Felix"}, {"cat"=>"Felix"}]

Since all the Array elements store the same hash, changes to one of them will affect them all.

If multiple copies are what you want, you should use the block version which uses the result of that block each time an element of the array needs to be initialized:

a = Array.new(2) {Hash.new}
a[0]['cat'] = 'feline'
a # => [{"cat"=>"feline"}, {}]

static VALUE
rb_ary_initialize(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE ary)
{
    long len;
    VALUE size, val;

    rb_ary_modify(ary);
    if (argc == 0) {
        if (ARY_OWNS_HEAP_P(ary) && ARY_HEAP_PTR(ary) != NULL) {
            ary_heap_free(ary);
        }
        rb_ary_unshare_safe(ary);
        FL_SET_EMBED(ary);
        ARY_SET_EMBED_LEN(ary, 0);
        if (rb_block_given_p()) {
            rb_warning("given block not used");
        }
        return ary;
    }
    rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "02", &size, &val);
    if (argc == 1 && !FIXNUM_P(size)) {
        val = rb_check_array_type(size);
        if (!NIL_P(val)) {
            rb_ary_replace(ary, val);
            return ary;
        }
    }

    len = NUM2LONG(size);
    /* NUM2LONG() may call size.to_int, ary can be frozen, modified, etc */
    if (len < 0) {
        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "negative array size");
    }
    if (len > ARY_MAX_SIZE) {
        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "array size too big");
    }
    /* recheck after argument conversion */
    rb_ary_modify(ary);
    ary_resize_capa(ary, len);
    if (rb_block_given_p()) {
        long i;

        if (argc == 2) {
            rb_warn("block supersedes default value argument");
        }
        for (i=0; i<len; i++) {
            rb_ary_store(ary, i, rb_yield(LONG2NUM(i)));
            ARY_SET_LEN(ary, i + 1);
        }
    }
    else {
        ary_memfill(ary, 0, len, val);
        ARY_SET_LEN(ary, len);
    }
    return ary;
}

try_convert(obj) → array or nil click to toggle source

Tries to convert obj into an array, using the to_ary method. Returns the converted array or nil if obj cannot be converted. This method can be used to check if an argument is an array.

Array.try_convert([1])   #=> [1]
Array.try_convert("1")   #=> nil

if tmp = Array.try_convert(arg)
  # the argument is an array
elsif tmp = String.try_convert(arg)
  # the argument is a string
end

static VALUE
rb_ary_s_try_convert(VALUE dummy, VALUE ary)
{
    return rb_check_array_type(ary);
}

Public Instance Methods

ary & other_ary → new_ary click to toggle source

Set Intersection — Returns a new array containing unique elements common to the two arrays. The order is preserved from the original array.

It compares elements using their hash and eql? methods for efficiency.

[ 1, 1, 3, 5 ] & [ 3, 2, 1 ]                 #=> [ 1, 3 ]
[ 'a', 'b', 'b', 'z' ] & [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ]   #=> [ 'a', 'b' ]

See also Enumerable#collect.

If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

a = [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
a.collect {|x| x + "!"}           #=> ["a!", "b!", "c!", "d!"]
a.map.with_index {|x, i| x * i}   #=> ["", "b", "cc", "ddd"]
a                                 #=> ["a", "b", "c", "d"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_collect(VALUE ary)
{
    long i;
    VALUE collect;

    RETURN_SIZED_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0, ary_enum_length);
    collect = rb_ary_new2(RARRAY_LEN(ary));
    for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
        rb_ary_push(collect, rb_yield(RARRAY_AREF(ary, i)));
    }
    return collect;
}

collect! {|item| block } → ary click to toggle source

collect! → Enumerator

Invokes the given block once for each element of self, replacing the element with the value returned by the block.

See also Enumerable#collect.

If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

a = [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
a.map! {|x| x + "!" }
a #=>  [ "a!", "b!", "c!", "d!" ]
a.collect!.with_index {|x, i| x[0...i] }
a #=>  ["", "b", "c!", "d!"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_collect_bang(VALUE ary)
{
    long i;

    RETURN_SIZED_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0, ary_enum_length);
    rb_ary_modify(ary);
    for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
        rb_ary_store(ary, i, rb_yield(RARRAY_AREF(ary, i)));
    }
    return ary;
}

combination(n) {|c| block} → ary click to toggle source

combination(n) → Enumerator

When invoked with a block, yields all combinations of length n of elements from the array and then returns the array itself.

The implementation makes no guarantees about the order in which the combinations are yielded.

If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

Examples:

a = [1, 2, 3, 4]
a.combination(1).to_a  #=> [[1],[2],[3],[4]]
a.combination(2).to_a  #=> [[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[2,3],[2,4],[3,4]]
a.combination(3).to_a  #=> [[1,2,3],[1,2,4],[1,3,4],[2,3,4]]
a.combination(4).to_a  #=> [[1,2,3,4]]
a.combination(0).to_a  #=> [[]] # one combination of length 0
a.combination(5).to_a  #=> []   # no combinations of length 5

static VALUE
rb_ary_combination(VALUE ary, VALUE num)
{
    long i, n, len;

    n = NUM2LONG(num);
    RETURN_SIZED_ENUMERATOR(ary, 1, &num, rb_ary_combination_size);
    len = RARRAY_LEN(ary);
    if (n < 0 || len < n) {
        /* yield nothing */
    }
    else if (n == 0) {
        rb_yield(rb_ary_new2(0));
    }
    else if (n == 1) {
        for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
            rb_yield(rb_ary_new3(1, RARRAY_AREF(ary, i)));
        }
    }
    else {
        VALUE ary0 = ary_make_shared_copy(ary); /* private defensive copy of ary */
        volatile VALUE t0;
        long *stack = ALLOCV_N(long, t0, n+1);

        RBASIC_CLEAR_CLASS(ary0);
        combinate0(len, n, stack, ary0);
        ALLOCV_END(t0);
        RBASIC_SET_CLASS_RAW(ary0, rb_cArray);
    }
    return ary;
}

compact → new_ary click to toggle source

Returns a copy of self with all nil elements removed.

[ "a", nil, "b", nil, "c", nil ].compact
                  #=> [ "a", "b", "c" ]

static VALUE
rb_ary_compact(VALUE ary)
{
    ary = rb_ary_dup(ary);
    rb_ary_compact_bang(ary);
    return ary;
}

compact! → ary or nil click to toggle source

Removes nil elements from the array.

Returns nil if no changes were made, otherwise returns the array.

[ "a", nil, "b", nil, "c" ].compact! #=> [ "a", "b", "c" ]
[ "a", "b", "c" ].compact!           #=> nil

static VALUE
rb_ary_compact_bang(VALUE ary)
{
    VALUE *p, *t, *end;
    long n;

    rb_ary_modify(ary);
    p = t = (VALUE *)RARRAY_CONST_PTR_TRANSIENT(ary); /* WB: no new reference */
    end = p + RARRAY_LEN(ary);

    while (t < end) {
        if (NIL_P(*t)) t++;
        else *p++ = *t++;
    }
    n = p - RARRAY_CONST_PTR_TRANSIENT(ary);
    if (RARRAY_LEN(ary) == n) {
        return Qnil;
    }
    ary_resize_smaller(ary, n);

    return ary;
}

concat(other_ary1, other_ary2, ...) → ary click to toggle source

Appends the elements of other_arys to self.

[ "a", "b" ].concat( ["c", "d"])   #=> [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
[ "a" ].concat( ["b"], ["c", "d"]) #=> [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
[ "a" ].concat #=> [ "a" ]

a = [ 1, 2, 3 ]
a.concat( [ 4, 5 ])
a                                 #=> [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]

a = [ 1, 2 ]
a.concat(a, a)                    #=> [1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2]

See also Enumerable#collect.

If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

a = [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
a.collect {|x| x + "!"}           #=> ["a!", "b!", "c!", "d!"]
a.map.with_index {|x, i| x * i}   #=> ["", "b", "cc", "ddd"]
a                                 #=> ["a", "b", "c", "d"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_collect(VALUE ary)
{
    long i;
    VALUE collect;

    RETURN_SIZED_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0, ary_enum_length);
    collect = rb_ary_new2(RARRAY_LEN(ary));
    for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
        rb_ary_push(collect, rb_yield(RARRAY_AREF(ary, i)));
    }
    return collect;
}

map! {|item| block } → ary click to toggle source

map! → Enumerator

Invokes the given block once for each element of self, replacing the element with the value returned by the block.

See also Enumerable#collect.

If no block is given, an Enumerator is returned instead.

a = [ "a", "b", "c", "d" ]
a.map! {|x| x + "!" }
a #=>  [ "a!", "b!", "c!", "d!" ]
a.collect!.with_index {|x, i| x[0...i] }
a #=>  ["", "b", "c!", "d!"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_collect_bang(VALUE ary)
{
    long i;

    RETURN_SIZED_ENUMERATOR(ary, 0, 0, ary_enum_length);
    rb_ary_modify(ary);
    for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
        rb_ary_store(ary, i, rb_yield(RARRAY_AREF(ary, i)));
    }
    return ary;
}

max → obj click to toggle source

max {|a, b| block} → obj

max(n) → array

max(n) {|a, b| block} → array

Returns the object in ary with the maximum value. The first form assumes all objects implement Comparable; the second uses the block to return a <=> b.

ary = %w(albatross dog horse)
ary.max                                   #=> "horse"
ary.max {|a, b| a.length <=> b.length}    #=> "albatross"

If the n argument is given, maximum n elements are returned as an array.

ary = %w[albatross dog horse]
ary.max(2)                                  #=> ["horse", "dog"]
ary.max(2) {|a, b| a.length <=> b.length }  #=> ["albatross", "horse"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_max(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE ary)
{
    struct cmp_opt_data cmp_opt = { 0, 0 };
    VALUE result = Qundef, v;
    VALUE num;
    long i;

    if (rb_check_arity(argc, 0, 1) && !NIL_P(num = argv[0]))
       return rb_nmin_run(ary, num, 0, 1, 1);

    if (rb_block_given_p()) {
        for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
           v = RARRAY_AREF(ary, i);
           if (result == Qundef || rb_cmpint(rb_yield_values(2, v, result), v, result) > 0) {
               result = v;
           }
        }
    }
    else {
        for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
           v = RARRAY_AREF(ary, i);
           if (result == Qundef || OPTIMIZED_CMP(v, result, cmp_opt) > 0) {
               result = v;
           }
        }
    }
    if (result == Qundef) return Qnil;
    return result;
}

min → obj click to toggle source

min {| a,b | block } → obj

min(n) → array

min(n) {| a,b | block } → array

Returns the object in ary with the minimum value. The first form assumes all objects implement Comparable; the second uses the block to return a <=> b.

ary = %w(albatross dog horse)
ary.min                                   #=> "albatross"
ary.min {|a, b| a.length <=> b.length}    #=> "dog"

If the n argument is given, minimum n elements are returned as an array.

ary = %w[albatross dog horse]
ary.min(2)                                  #=> ["albatross", "dog"]
ary.min(2) {|a, b| a.length <=> b.length }  #=> ["dog", "horse"]

static VALUE
rb_ary_min(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE ary)
{
    struct cmp_opt_data cmp_opt = { 0, 0 };
    VALUE result = Qundef, v;
    VALUE num;
    long i;

    if (rb_check_arity(argc, 0, 1) && !NIL_P(num = argv[0]))
       return rb_nmin_run(ary, num, 0, 0, 1);

    if (rb_block_given_p()) {
        for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
           v = RARRAY_AREF(ary, i);
           if (result == Qundef || rb_cmpint(rb_yield_values(2, v, result), v, result) < 0) {
               result = v;
           }
        }
    }
    else {
        for (i = 0; i < RARRAY_LEN(ary); i++) {
           v = RARRAY_AREF(ary, i);
           if (result == Qundef || OPTIMIZED_CMP(v, result, cmp_opt) < 0) {
               result = v;
           }
        }
    }
    if (result == Qundef) return Qnil;
    return result;
}

minmax → [obj, obj] click to toggle source

minmax {| a,b | block } → [obj, obj]

Returns a two element array which contains the minimum and the maximum value in the array.

Can be given an optional block to override the default comparison method a <=> b.

static VALUE
rb_ary_minmax(VALUE ary)
{
    if (rb_block_given_p()) {
        return rb_call_super(0, NULL);
    }
    return rb_assoc_new(rb_ary_min(0, 0, ary), rb_ary_max(0, 0, ary));
}

none? [{|obj| block} ] → true or false click to toggle source

none?(pattern) → true or false

class Array

Creating Arrays¶ ↑

Example Usage¶ ↑

Accessing Elements¶ ↑

Obtaining Information about an Array¶ ↑

Adding Items to Arrays¶ ↑

Removing Items from an Array¶ ↑

Iterating over Arrays¶ ↑

Selecting Items from an Array¶ ↑

Non-destructive Selection¶ ↑

Destructive Selection¶ ↑

Common gotchas¶ ↑

Obtaining Information about an `Array`¶ ↑

Removing Items from an `Array`¶ ↑

Selecting Items from an `Array`¶ ↑