Ruby && OO?

[aidy]

Hi,

I have just started learning Ruby as an open-source web test tool makes
use of its language.

If Ruby is object-oriented why can I create a method outside of a class
and why can I implement methods in modules?

Thanks

Aidy

 

[Lutz Horn]

Hi,

If Ruby is object-oriented why can I create a method outside of a class
and why can I implement methods in modules?

Because object-oriented doesn't mean class-oriented but
message-oriented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_passing_programming

 

[Robert Klemme]

Hi,


Because object-oriented doesn't mean class-oriented but
message-oriented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_passing_programming

Yep, OO does not necessarily mean that there are classes at all.

Adding to that: at every single line in the program self has a valid
value, IOW there is always an object around. The fact that you can do

def some_method() end

on top level is just syntactic sugar for a more verbose definition that
would explicitly name the receiver of the definition:

11:23:10 [~]: ruby -e 'def mmmm() end; puts private_methods.grep(/^m+$/)'
mmmm

Kind regards

robert

 

[Huw Collingbourne]

If Ruby is object-oriented why can I create a method outside of a class
and why can I implement methods in modules?

The answer is that you can't make a method outside of a class. In Ruby a
module is an instance of the class Module. Moreover, when you create a
program, a main Object is automatically created to contain your methods.

Try running this:

puts( self )

puts( self.class )

best wishes
Huw Collingbourne
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[Michel]

If Ruby is object-oriented why can I create a method outside of a class
and why can I implement methods in modules?

You are always at least in the context of Object, try:

print self.class