How do I convert a Ruby string with brackets to an array?

Question

I would like to convert the following string into an array/nested array:

str = \"[[this, is],[a, nested],[array]]\"

newarray = # this is what I need help w         


        

Answer 1

Make a recursive function that takes the string and an integer offset, and "reads" out an array. That is, have it return an array or string (that it has read) and an integer offset pointing after the array. For example:

s = "[[this, is],[a, nested],[array]]"

yourFunc(s, 1) # returns ['this', 'is'] and 11.
yourFunc(s, 2) # returns 'this' and 6.

Then you can call it with another function that provides an offset of 0, and makes sure that the finishing offset is the length of the string.