Associative array "pop" ?

[Craig Ringer <craig@2ndquadrant.com>]

Hi all

I find myself using the patterns

x_foo = foo[x]
if (x_foo != 0)
    delete foo[x]
    # do something with x_foo
}

and

if ([x] in foo) {
    x_foo = foo[x]
    delete foo[x]
    # do something with x_foo
}

frequently.

I wonder if it's feasible to have a "pop" that combines these to eliminate
repeated searches of the array. Assuming that those aren't already
optimised away - I didn't see any indication they are, but don't know the
underlying code well enough.

Something like

    if (pop(foo_x, foo[x])) {
    }

where "pop" returns 1 if the element was present, 0 if it was not present,
and deletes it if it was present.

If you think it's a good idea I'll pop this on my TODO for pending
enhancements for me to try to hack up.

-- 
 Craig Ringer                   http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
 2ndQuadrant - PostgreSQL Solutions for the Enterprise