Question

I have to search an item in an array and return the value of the next item. Example:

a = ['abc.df','-f','test.h']
i = a.find_index{|x| x=~/-f/}
puts a[i+1]

Is there any better way other than working with index?

Answer 1

A classical functional approach uses no indexes (xs.each_cons(2) -> pairwise combinations of xs):

xs = ['abc.df', '-f', 'test.h']
(xs.each_cons(2).detect { |x, y| x =~ /-f/ } || []).last
#=> "test.h"

Using Enumerable#map_detect simplifies it a litte bit more:

xs.each_cons(2).map_detect { |x, y| y if x =~ /-f/ }
#=> "test.h"