How to delete an entry of a hash by specifying its key in Ruby
Overview
We can use the delete(key) method to delete an entry of a hash. It returns the associated value of the entry deleted.
Syntax
hash.delete(key)
Parameters
hash: The hash we want to delete an entry from.
Return value
This method returns the value of the entry deleted.
Example
Let’s look at the code below:
# create hashesh1 = {one: 1, two: 2, three: 3}h2 = {name: "okwudili", stack: "ruby"}h3 = {"foo": 0, "bar": 1}# delete some keys# and print return valuesputs h1.delete(:three)puts h2.delete(:stack)puts h3.delete(:bar)# now print hashesputs h1puts h2puts h3
Explanation
- Lines 2 to 4: We create three hashes
h1,h2, andh3. - Lines 8 to 10: We invoke the
delete(key)method on the hashes and print their returned values. - Lines 13 to 15: We print the hashes after some entries are deleted.