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What is array.at() in Ruby?
okwudili onyejiaku
The at() method of the Array class in Ruby returns an element from an Array instance based on a specified index.
Syntax
array.at(index)
# where array is any Array instance
Parameters
index: The index position of the element to search for.
Return value
The at() method returns the element at the specified index. at() returns nil if index is out of range.
Code
In the code below, we create array instances and extract some elements from the arrays with the at() method. The extracted elements are printed to the console.
# creating array instances
array1 = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
array2 = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"]
array3 = ["Javascript", "Python", "Java", "C++", "Ruby"]
array4 = ["cat", "dog", "elephant", "whale"]
# search elements with "at()" method
a = array1.at(2)
b = array2.at(3)
c = array3.at(1)
# print returned values
puts "#{array1}.at(2) returns #{a}"
puts "#{array2}.at(3) returns #{b}"
puts "#{array3}.at(1) returns #{c}"When index is out of range, a nil value is returned, as shown below:
# create array array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] # search for element with "at()" method element = array.at(10) # index out of range. Returns nothing or nil # print returned value puts element
If a negative value for index is specified, counting starts from the end, as shown below:
# create array array = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"] # search with "at()" method element = array.at(-3) # negative index # print element returned puts element
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