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The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Second Edition
book

The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Second Edition

by David Black
June 2014
Intermediate to advanced
536 pages
15h 18m
English
Manning Publications
Content preview from The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Second Edition

Chapter 5. The default object (self), scope, and visibility

This chapter covers

  • The role of the current or default object, self
  • Scoping rules for local, global, and class variables
  • Constant lookup and visibility
  • Method-access rules

In describing and discussing computer programs, we often use spatial and, sometimes, human metaphors. We talk about being “in” a class definition or returning “from” a method call. We address objects in the second person, as in obj.respond_to?("x") (that is, “Hey obj, do you respond to 'x'?”). As a program runs, the question of which objects are being addressed, and where in the imaginary space of the program they stand, constantly shifts.

And the shifts aren’t just metaphorical. The meanings of identifiers shift ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781617291692Publisher SupportPublisher WebsiteErrata Page