I suspect that there is considerably more overhead in creating a Hash as
compared to an Array and that using an Array is more efficient unless the Array
will become large. I am wondering about how large the Array would have to be
before it becomes more efficient to use a Hash. Consider the following example:
class Test
def initialize
@array = []
@hash = {}
end
def get_from_hash( key )
@hash[ key ]
end
def set_hash( key, value )
value.nil? ? @hash.delete( key ) : @hash[ key ] = value
end
def get_from_array( key )
pair = @array.assoc( key )
pair ? pair.last : nil
end
def set_array( key, value )
pair = @array.assoc( key )
if pair
value.nil? ? @array.delete( pair ) : pair[1] = value
else
@array << [ key, value ] unless value.nil?
end
end
end
Clearly it requires more code to emulate the hash function with an Array, but
would it run faster for a small number of keys?
Bob Rice
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