| In this chapter, we've taken a good look at arrays, hashes, and more complex data structures. You've seen some similarities between arrays and hashes (many of which are due to the fact that both mix in Enumerable) as well as some differences. We've looked at converting between arrays and hashes, and you've learned some interesting ways of extending their standard behavior. Where more advanced data structures are concerned, you've seen examples of inheriting from an existing class and examples of limited delegation by encapsulating an instance of another class. You've seen ways to store data creatively, ways to make use of various data structures, and how to create iterators for these classes. In the next chapter, we are again covering the topic of manipulation of data. However, where we have so far been concerned with objects stored in memory, we will now be looking at secondary storageworking with files (and I/O in general), databases, and persistent objects. |
