flatten_my_array.rb

flatten_my_array.rb

# This is a custom method to flatten any given array
# this is simple one to read and understand
# by name it means to accept only array, so it is known that passing any other object than array will fail 
def flatten_my_array arr
  new_arr = []
  
  arr.each do |element|
    if element.is_a? Array
      new_arr = new_arr.concat flatten_my_array(element)
      # know that Array#concat is faster way to concat two arrays in ruby

    else
      new_arr << element
    end
  end

  new_arr
end


flatten_my_array [[1,2,[3]],4]                        # => [1,2,3,4]
flatten_my_array ['a', [1], { :key => [1,2,3]}, []]   # => ["a", 1, {:key=>[1, 2, 3]}]
flatten_my_array []                                   # => []
flatten_my_array nil                                  # => NoMethodError
flatten_my_array 123                                  # => NoMethodError
flatten_my_array [[[[[1]]]]]                          # => [1]



require 'benchmark'
test_arr = [1,"str", [[[[[[[[[[[[[1]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

puts Benchmark.measure { test_arr.flatten }
# => 0.000000   0.000000   0.000000 (  0.000035)

puts Benchmark.measure { flatten_my_array test_arr }
# => 0.000000   0.000000   0.000000 (  0.000040)

# flatten_my_array is a ruby function wherein Array#flatten is core ruby function in C, so it has to be faster than ruby one