Is there an equivalent to `Array::sample` for hashes?
I'm looking to extract n random key-value pairs from a hash.
Hash[original_hash.to_a.sample(n)]
For Ruby 2.1,
original_hash.to_a.sample(n).to_h
I don't know of such method. Still you can do something like:
h[h.keys.sample]
If you need to sample more than one element the code will have to be a bit more complicated.
EDIT: to get key value pairs instead of only the value you can do something like:
keys_sample = h.keys.sample(n)
keys_sample.zip(keys_sample.map{|k| h[k])
Reading the top ranked answers, I'd go with it depends:
-
If you want to sample only one element from the hash, @Ivaylo Strandjev's solution only relies on hash lookup and
Array#sample
:hsh[hsh.keys.sample]
-
To sample multiple hash elements, @sawa's answer leverages
Array#to_h
:hsh.to_a.sample(n).to_h
Note that, as @cadlac mentions, hsh.to_a.sample.to_h
won't work as expected. It will raise
TypeError: wrong element type String at 0 (expected array)
because Array#sample
in this case returns just the element array, and not the array containing the element array.
A workaround is his solution, providing an n = 1
as an argument:
hsh.to_a.sample(1).to_h
PS: not looking for upvotes, only adding it as an explanation for people newer to Ruby.