gistfile1.rb

v = ["software", "machine"]

loose_words_array = [] # will remain empty
exact_words_array = [] # becomes ["software"]
ignore_negative_array = [] # will remain empty

      v.each do |word|
        ignore_negative_array << word.gsub!("-", "") if word.starts_with?("-")

        if word.starts_with?("/") && word.ends_with?("/")
          exact_words_array << word.gsub("/", "")
        else
          loose_words_array << word.gsub("/", "")
        end
      end

sentance = "photo editing software and paint you"
words_caught = sentance.scan(/(?:#{loose_words_array.join("|")})|(?:\b(?:#{exact_words_array.join("|")})\b)/) # returns ["", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "software", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""]