Is there any way to get the Nth key or value of an ordered hash other than converting it to an array?

Question

In Ruby 1.9.x I have a hash that maintains its order

hsh = {9=>2, 8=>3, 5=>2, 4=>2, 2=>1}

Is there a way to get say the key of the third element other than this:

hsh.to_a[2][0]

Answer 1

Try using Hash#keys and Hash#values:

thirdKey = hsh.keys[2]
thirdValue = hsh.values[2]

Answer 2

Why do you use hash instead of an array? The array fits perfect for ordered collections.

array = [[9, 2], [8, 3], [5, 2], [4, 2], [2, 1]]
array.each { |pair| puts pair.first }

Sorting of arrays is very simple, ultimately.

disordered_array = [[4,2], [9,2], [8,3], [2,1], [5,2]] 
disordered_array.sort { |a,b| b <=> a }
=> [[9, 2], [8, 3], [5, 2], [4, 2], [2, 1]]

Correct me if I'm wrong.