From: Florian Gilcher <flo@...>
Date: 2009-04-29T19:07:18+09:00
Subject: Re: Why does attr_accessor in module require 'self.'?


On Apr 29, 2009, at 10:11 AM, Shaun Keller wrote:

> The short answer would be that
>
> a = 'bar'
>
> is a local variable assignment, whereas
>
> self.a = 'bar'
>
> is an instance variable assignment, like @a
> --  
> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
>

No,

   a = 'bar'

is local variable assignment, whereas

   self.a = 'bar'

is a method call.

Where #a= was defined through

   attr_accessor :a

and has the side effect of assigning an @variable. It is totally  
possible to
implement #a= without having it assign a variable - it is in no way  
special.

All you do is force that method call by explicitly mentioning a  
receiver.