Rspec: “array.should == another_array” but without concern for order

Question

I often want to compare arrays and make sure that they contain the same elements, in any order. Is there a concise way to do this in RSpec?

Here are methods that are

Answer 1

Since RSpec 2.11 you can also use match_array.

array.should match_array(another_array)

Which could be more readable in some cases.

[1, 2, 3].should =~ [2, 3, 1]
# vs
[1, 2, 3].should match_array([2, 3, 1])