Ruby | to_a() Function

Introduction

In Ruby, the to_a() function is used to convert an object to an array. The to_a() function is defined for many built-in classes in Ruby, such as Hash, Range, and Set. It is also defined for some user-defined classes.

Syntax

The syntax of the to_a() function is as follows:

object.to_a

In the above syntax, object is the object that needs to be converted to an array.

Parameters

The to_a() function does not accept any parameters.

Return Value

The to_a() function returns an array that contains the elements of the given object.

Example

In this example, we will create a hash and convert it to an array using the to_a() function.

hash = { "a" => 100, "b" => 200, "c" => 300 }
array = hash.to_a
puts array.inspect

Output:

[["a", 100], ["b", 200], ["c", 300]]

In the above code, we created a hash named hash with three key-value pairs. We then used the to_a() function to convert the hash to an array named array. Finally, we printed the contents of the array using the inspect method.

Conclusion

In Ruby, the to_a() function is a useful method for converting objects to arrays. It is defined for many built-in classes in Ruby, and is also defined for some user-defined classes. The to_a() function does not accept any parameters, and returns an array that contains the elements of the given object.