OpenStruct allows the creation of data objects with arbitrary attributes.
OpenFastStruct is a data structure, similar* to an OpenStruct, that allows the definition of arbitrary attributes with their accompanying values. It benchmarks ~3x slower than a Hash, but it's ~4x faster than OpenStruct.
*An OpenFastStruct is not exactly like an OpenStruct, these are the main differences between them:
- OpenFastStruct doesn't allow hash access like
person[:name]. - OpenFastStruct doesn't provide marshalling.
- OpenFastStruct allows infinite chaining of attributes example.
Install the gem:
$ gem install ofstruct
Use the gem in a project managed with Bundler adding it into the Gemfile:
gem "ofstruct"
require "ofstruct"
person = OpenFastStruct.new
person.name = "John Smith"
person.age = 70
puts person.name # -> "John Smith"
puts person.age # -> 70
puts person.address # -> #<OpenFastStruct>An OpenFastStruct employs a Hash internally to store the methods and values and can even be initialized or updated with one:
require "ofstruct"
person = OpenFastStruct.new(:name => "John Smith")
puts person.name # -> "John Smith"
person.update(:name => "David Smith", :age => 70)
puts person.name # -> "David Smith"
puts person.age # -> 70Removing the presence of a method requires the execution the #delete_field
method as setting the property value to a new empty OpenFastStruct.
require "ofstruct"
person = OpenFastStruct.new
person.name = "John Smith"
person.delete_field(:name)
puts person.name # -> #<OpenFastStruct>An OpenFastStruct instance is a black hole object that supports infinite chaining of attributes.
require "ofstruct"
person = OpenFastStruct.new
person.address.number = 4
puts person.address.number # -> 4Probably you heard that you should never, ever use OpenStruct because the performance penalty is prohibitive. You can use OpenFastStruct instead!
$ ruby benchmark/hash_ofstruct_ostruct.rb
Calculating -------------------------------------
Hash 25.518k i/100ms
OpenFastStruct 10.527k i/100ms
OpenStruct 3.236k i/100ms
-------------------------------------------------
Hash 487.517k (±11.9%) i/s - 2.399M
OpenFastStruct 159.952k (± 4.0%) i/s - 800.052k
OpenStruct 45.602k (± 4.7%) i/s - 229.756k
Comparison:
Hash: 487516.9 i/s
OpenFastStruct: 159952.4 i/s - 3.05x slower
OpenStruct: 45601.6 i/s - 10.69x slower
$ ruby benchmark/double_ofstruct_ostruct.rb
Calculating -------------------------------------
RSpec Stubs 103.000 i/100ms
OpenFastStruct 108.000 i/100ms
OpenStruct 45.000 i/100ms
-------------------------------------------------
RSpec Stubs 297.809 (±17.1%) i/s - 1.545k in 5.346697s
OpenFastStruct 262.381 (±12.2%) i/s - 1.404k in 5.430345s
OpenStruct 185.150 (± 7.0%) i/s - 945.000
Comparison:
RSpec Stubs: 297.8 i/s
OpenFastStruct: 262.4 i/s - 1.14x slower
OpenStruct: 185.2 i/s - 1.61x slower