Gavin Kistner
10/23/2006 8:37:00 PM
From: Brad Tilley
> What exactly is the difference between these?
:: and . are interchangeable for method calls (I think fully):
irb(main):001:0> class Foo; attr_accessor :bar; end
=> nil
irb(main):002:0> f = Foo.new
=> #<Foo:0x2c9abd8>
irb(main):003:0> f::bar
=> nil
irb(main):004:0> f::bar = 12
=> 12
irb(main):005:0> f::bar
=> 12
"::" must be used for constant lookup:
irb(main):001:0> class Foo; BAR = 12; end
=> 12
irb(main):002:0> Foo::BAR
=> 12
irb(main):003:0> Foo.BAR
NoMethodError: undefined method `BAR' for Foo:Class
from (irb):3
Most people (I believe) only use "::" for constants, and "." for all
method calls.