From: Trans <transfire@...>
Date: 2005-12-08T15:57:35+09:00
Subject: Re: About class methods

In Ruby a class is an object too. So it can have it's own methods just
like any other object. There methods are different from a class
instance methods, which are the ones that define the nature of an
object instantiated from the class. So lets say we have a class:

  class MyClass
  end

Then we can treat is like any other object and send messages to it.

  MyClass.object_id   #=> -606921464

That's what is called a *class method*. Also, you may have noticed that
you can define a method tailored specifically for any object. For
instance:

  a = "hi"
  def a.up
    self.upcase
  end
  a.up  #=> "HI"

Class methods are actually the same thing. You can create one of these
tailor-made methods for a class likewise:

  def MyClass.upname
    name.upcase
  end
  MyClass.upname  #=> "MYCLASS"

HTH,
T.

(Hey all, I didn't use the term adhoc! See I can take a hin... I mean a
brick to the head ;-)