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I am wondering about the use of arrays in Ruby.  It
seems rare in the sample code.  Does this mean that
they should be avoided?

In particular I am contemplating processing a data
file with > 100 columns & around 14,000 records.
The first record contains column headers.  I had
planned on using a pair of arrays, one for the
titles and a two dimensional one for the records
(until I figure out random access, and recreate the
file).

Alternate approaches are: 1) use arrays to map the
data to the name, 2) use hash tables to associate
the data with the name, 3) create a special class
that mimics the data structure.  Approach 1 seems
the most general purpose.  It seems to me that
approach 2 would use excessive RAM (this data
SHOULDN'T all be kept in memory, but this is a
learning project).  It seems to me that approach 3
would be inflexible -- I wouldn't be able to build
one routine and use it to process all files in that
form, only ones whose column headers matched.

But I really don't know.  And the scarcity of arrays
in the sample programs causes me to wonder whether
they should be avoided.


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