Extract items from an array containing arrays with n-depth in Ruby

Question

I'm trying to extract all the elements from an array such as this: [[42, 43, 46], [23,64], [2, [2,3]]]. I figured a recursive method approach would work, but recursion is a relatively new concept to me in Ruby. Is recursion the best solution or is there a better method? I was able to extract the first deepest item within the array with this method:

def list_items(array)
  return array if array.is_a? Integer
  array = array.shift
  list_items(array)
end

set = [[42,43,46],[23,64],[2,[2,3]]]
result = list_items(set)
p result

I want to create a 1 dimensional array of all the items. result = [42,43,46,23,64,2,2,3] — arjis02
– arjis02, Commented Jan 16, 2015 at 17:33

Arup Rakshit · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-16 17:41:13Z

1

Use #flatten method.

Returns a new array that is a one-dimensional flattening of self (recursively).

set = [[42,43,46],[23,64],[2,[2,3]]]
set.flatten # => [42, 43, 46, 23, 64, 2, 2, 3]

edited Jan 16, 2015 at 17:41

answered Jan 16, 2015 at 17:35

Arup Rakshit

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