From: Brian Candler <b.candler@...>
Date: 2008-09-21T18:36:34+09:00
Subject: Re: why one array continues to grow after repeated call

Li Chen wrote:
> The script in the OP is a simple version of another more lenghy one.
> 
> @a1 comprise all the file names from a folder.
> @b1 comprise all the file names from another folder.
> the construction of @b1 is dependent on @a1.
> after initialize I want to check the status of @a1 and @b1.
> out of curiossity I call both method1 and method2 more than once.

So if the idea is for method1 to initialize @a1, and for method2 to 
initialize @b1, then do it like this:

  def initialize
    method1
    method2
  end
  def method1
    @a1 = [1,2,3,4]
  end
  def method2
    @b1 = []
    @a1.size.times { @b1 << 10 }
    @b1
  end

> I think I can retrieve the status of @a1 and  @b1 by 
> writing accessor/getter. This way I would not mess up with the method 
> call.

Sure:

  def a1
    @a1
  end
  def b1
    @b1
  end

or more simply:
  attr_reader :a1, :b1

If you want, you can make the accessor method also perform the 
initialization. Here's a common pattern:

  def a1
    @a1 ||= method1
  end
  def b1
    @b1 ||= method2
  end

B.
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