Hashugar (Hash Sugar)

Nested OpenStruct alternative optimized for speed especially for many short-lived objects (e.g. results from db).

TODO: deploy this gem under a CI system

Usage

$ gem install hashugar

Basic examples:

hashugar = {:a => 1, 'b' => {:c => 2, :d => [3, 4, {:e => 5}]}}.to_hashugar
hashugar.a # => 1
hashugar.b.c # => 2
hashugar.b.d.last.e # => 5

Convert a Hashugar object back to a regular Ruby Hash recursively:

hashugar.to_new_hash # => {:a => 1, 'b' => {:c => 2, :d => [3, 4, {:e => 5}]}}

Teach Hashugar methods from other compatible classes (currently only Hash supported):

hashugar = { one: 1, two: 2 }.to_hashugar
hashugar.clear # => nil
Hashugar.learn_methods Hash
hashugar.clear # => {}

How fast is it?

TODO: benchmark 2.0 and 2.1

Let's compare to the competitors - OpenStruct, Hashr

$ rake bench

Ruby 1.9.3 benchmark

OpenStruct create small hash and access once
 43858.0 (±5.5%) i/s -     221820 in   5.074250s (cycle=3697)
Hashr      create small hash and access once
 67408.9 (±5.0%) i/s -     339780 in   5.053728s (cycle=5663)
Hashugar   create small hash and access once
230217.9 (±4.2%) i/s -    1152670 in   5.015705s (cycle=15790)

OpenStruct create big hash and access once
   974.8 (±4.9%) i/s -       4949 in   5.090937s (cycle=101)
Hashr     create big hash and access once
  3468.1 (±5.9%) i/s -      17450 in   5.051485s (cycle=349)
Hashugar   create big hash and access once
 12738.3 (±2.6%) i/s -      64220 in   5.045018s (cycle=1235)

OpenStruct create small hash and access ten times
 46170.2 (±2.7%) i/s -     231362 in   5.014712s (cycle=3989)
Hashr      create small hash and access ten times
 41818.8 (±2.5%) i/s -     210320 in   5.032433s (cycle=3824)
Hashugar   create small hash and access ten times
 82216.8 (±2.3%) i/s -     411742 in   5.010785s (cycle=7099)

OpenStruct create small hash and access fifty times
 36126.0 (±2.8%) i/s -     182112 in   5.044983s (cycle=3252)
Hashr      create small hash and access fifty times
 15584.9 (±2.5%) i/s -      78312 in   5.028076s (cycle=1506)
Hashugar   create small hash and access fifty times
 21513.9 (±6.0%) i/s -     107952 in   5.039238s (cycle=2076)

OpenStruct create small hash and access hundred times
 28617.9 (±2.7%) i/s -     144928 in   5.068069s (cycle=2588)
Hashr      create small hash and access hundred times
  8860.7 (±1.7%) i/s -      45103 in   5.091664s (cycle=851)
Hashugar   create small hash and access hundred times
 11491.3 (±2.4%) i/s -      57512 in   5.007677s (cycle=1106)