Ruby: create a String from bytes

can't remember if there is a single function that does that:

>> a = [65,66,67]
=> [65, 66, 67]
>> a.map {|x| x.chr}.join
=> "ABC"

for 1.9 you need:

[195,164].pack('c*').force_encoding('UTF-8')

There is a much simpler approach than any of the above: Array#pack:

>> [65,66,67,68,69].pack('c*')
=>  "ABCDE"

I believe pack is implemented in c in matz ruby, so it also will be considerably faster with very large arrays.

Also, pack can correctly handle UTF-8 using the 'U*' template.