From: "Peña, Botp" <botp@...>
Date: 2004-04-24T18:54:11+09:00
Subject: Re: Array to Hash


Robert Klemme [mailto:bob.news@gmx.net] wrote:

> There's one reason why this may not be a standard method: 
> there are at least two equally reasonable representations of 
> a mapping stored in an array:
> 
> Nested arrays as returned by Hash#to_a: [[key1, val1], [key2, val2]]
> 
> A sequence: [key1, val1, key2, val2] as used by Hash[]
> 
> Obviously there is no simple way from a Hash to an Array and 
> back to a Hash.
> (Btw: is that ever needed? I mean, if you have a hash you can 
> easily create a copy without an intermediate array.)
> 
> So the question is wich representation Enumerable#to_h should 
> expect - nested or sequence?

I am concerned more on the language. 

Which would you prefer?

Hash#to_a or Hash[*mumblearray.flatten] 

IMHO, I prefer the first; more rubyish. The second looks weird, and my brain
aches just to remember it.

Now, since the first notation returns an array of pairs, then _it_ is in
consonance with the hash notation (since hashes are pairs too). Ergo, to
answer your question, I choose the nested.

Ok, now I have a question for you robert (since you're one of the ruby gurus
here), Is it possible for #to_h to determine if the array is nested or not,
and then adjust accordingly?

> 
>     robert

kind regards -botp