From: Jim Weirich <jweirich@...>
Date: 2002-08-16T21:46:25+09:00
Subject: Re: Thought question: Where does "new" come from?

>>>>> "mikkelf" == mikkelfj-anti-spam  <MikkelFJ> writes:

    mikkelf> The "problem" (if it is a problem) I have with "class
    mikkelf> method" is that any normally defined method belongs to
    mikkelf> the class, as opposed to singleton methods that belongs
    mikkelf> to the instance. Hence I see the normal methods as class
    mikkelf> methods. The "static" methods belongs to a separate
    mikkelf> default created instance with the same name as the
    mikkelf> class. This default instance is statically allocated at
    mikkelf> the time the class is first defined. Hence the term
    mikkelf> static method.

Normally defined methods are called instance methods.  Their
definitions are held by the class object, but they are only applicable
to instances of that class.

Class methods (what you call static) are methods that are applicable
to the class.

 class A
   def imethod() end
   def A.cmethod() end
 end

 A.instance_methods  #=> ["imethod"]
 A.methods #=> ["cmethod", "new", "superclass", "private_instance_methods", "clone", ... ]

The term "static" is misleading.  Static (as used in Java and C++)
refers to stand-alone functions that are in the scope of a class, but
can be invoked without any reference to an object instance.  No such
thing exists in Ruby.


-- 
-- Jim Weirich     jweirich@one.net    http://w3.one.net/~jweirich
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, 
not tried it." -- Donald Knuth (in a memo to Peter van Emde Boas)