From: Jeremy Bopp <jeremy@...>
Date: 2010-11-19T00:46:39+09:00
Subject: Re: Multiple constructor in Ruby

On 11/18/2010 9:41 AM, Arturo Bonechi wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> I have a question about the constructor in Ruby.
> 
> Here is an exemple class :
> 
> class Test
>   def initialize param
>     puts param
>   end
>   def initialize param1, param2
>     puts "#{param1} #{param2}"
>   end
> end
> 
> If I call the second constructor, everything works fine, whereas I got
> an 'ArgumentError: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)' with the first.
> 
> So, has the second constructor overriden the first one? Does that mean
> you have to implement 'initialize' only once in a class?

This is true for any method definition in Ruby, not just constructors.
There is no facility to select methods based on method signature, so
Ruby sees defining a method with the same name as an existing one as
replacing or overriding the original.

-Jeremy