From: Vivek <krishna.vivek@...>
Date: 2005-12-21T13:12:48+09:00
Subject: When are attr_reader type  methods called?

I couldnt get a proper subject for the post but here is my question.
Its regarding methods like
attr_reader defined like below
You can do this in ruby

# file a.rb
class A
  call_this ("hello world")

  def  call_this
 ....
  end
end


The A::call_this is called immediately after I run the script.Becuase I
made the method print something and it printed it even though I hadnt
instantiated an object of the class with new.
What if the method uses some instance variables? wouldnt that be a
problem because its called even before an object is created?My question
is at what time during program execution are these methods called? If
there are more than one classes in a file then whats the order ? is it
defined by the language?
My guess is that these are like the equivalent of static member
variables in C, initialized before _main is called.?
Hope to get some clarification on this
vivek