What is the best way to convert an array to a hash in Ruby

Simply use Hash[*array_variable.flatten]

For example:

a1 = ['apple', 1, 'banana', 2]
h1 = Hash[*a1.flatten(1)]
puts "h1: #{h1.inspect}"

a2 = [['apple', 1], ['banana', 2]]
h2 = Hash[*a2.flatten(1)]
puts "h2: #{h2.inspect}"

Using Array#flatten(1) limits the recursion so Array keys and values work as expected.

NOTE: For a concise and efficient solution, please see Marc-André Lafortune's answer below.

This answer was originally offered as an alternative to approaches using flatten, which were the most highly upvoted at the time of writing. I should have clarified that I didn't intend to present this example as a best practice or an efficient approach. Original answer follows.

Warning! Solutions using flatten will not preserve Array keys or values!

Building on @John Topley's popular answer, let's try:

a3 = [ ['apple', 1], ['banana', 2], [['orange','seedless'], 3] ]
h3 = Hash[*a3.flatten]

This throws an error:

ArgumentError: odd number of arguments for Hash
        from (irb):10:in `[]'
        from (irb):10

The constructor was expecting an Array of even length (e.g. ['k1','v1,'k2','v2']). What's worse is that a different Array which flattened to an even length would just silently give us a Hash with incorrect values.

If you want to use Array keys or values, you can use map:

h3 = Hash[a3.map {|key, value| [key, value]}]
puts "h3: #{h3.inspect}"

This preserves the Array key:

h3: {["orange", "seedless"]=>3, "apple"=>1, "banana"=>2}

Edit: Saw the responses posted while I was writing, Hash[a.flatten] seems the way to go. Must have missed that bit in the documentation when I was thinking through the response. Thought the solutions that I've written can be used as alternatives if required.

The second form is simpler:

a = [[:apple, 1], [:banana, 2]]
h = a.inject({}) { |r, i| r[i.first] = i.last; r }

a = array, h = hash, r = return-value hash (the one we accumulate in), i = item in the array

The neatest way that I can think of doing the first form is something like this:

a = [:apple, 1, :banana, 2]
h = {}
a.each_slice(2) { |i| h[i.first] = i.last }

Not sure if it's the best way, but this works:

a = ["apple", 1, "banana", 2]
m1 = {}
for x in (a.length / 2).times
  m1[a[x*2]] = a[x*2 + 1]
end

b = [["apple", 1], ["banana", 2]]
m2 = {}
for x,y in b
  m2[x] = y
end

For performance and memory allocation concerns please check my answer to Rails mapping array of hashes onto single hash where I bench-marked several solutions.

reduce / inject can be the fastest or the slowest solution depending on which method you use it which.

If the numeric values are seq indexes, then we could have simpler ways... Here's my code submission, My Ruby is a bit rusty

   input = ["cat", 1, "dog", 2, "wombat", 3]
   hash = Hash.new
   input.each_with_index {|item, index|
     if (index%2 == 0) hash[item] = input[index+1]
   }
   hash   #=> {"cat"=>1, "wombat"=>3, "dog"=>2}