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Arrayclass
==========

Arrayclass is a class factory for generating Array based objects whose attributes can be accessed like those of a normal ruby object (or like an array). They are highly memory efficient (almost equivalent to an Array) and fast to work with.

Features
--------

Arrayclass based objects are:
* memory efficient - roughly the same space as a normal array
* quickly instantiated with data

Examples
--------

    require 'arrayclass'  

    Person = Arrayclass.new(%w(name eye_color watch_brand))
    # instantiate with an array
    joe = Person.new(%w(Joe brown Casio))

    # instantiate an empty object (an array of the expected size is created)
    sally = Person.new
    sally.name = 'Sally'
    sally[0] == 'Sally' # true
    
### Access/modify attributes like a normal object

    joe.name # 'Joe'
    joe.watch_brand = 'Timex'

### Use some array features

    joe[1]    # 'brown'
    joe[1..2] = ['blue', 'Fossil']
    joe.each {|attribute| # do something with attribute }

### Arrayclass derived classes can be subclassed

    class BigPerson < Person
      def some_new_function
      end

      # push on another attribute
      self.add_member('shoe_type')

      # (haven't written a remove_member function yet...)
    end

    BigPerson.new

Installation
------------

    gem install arrayclass