From: Shannon Fang <xrfang@...>
Date: 2002-12-01T01:17:32+09:00
Subject: Ruby Document

Hi All,

I feel a little frustrated with Ruby's documentation. I like the
companion book "The Pragmatic Programmer". However, it is apparently not
good enough to be a online manual. May be because I'm completely new to
Ruby. I just feel lost. The following is some of my questions. They are
all related to Ruby's syntax. Please note that I am not currently
interested in the logic of the following example, just simply what the
syntax mean.

1. In httpmail-0.3/ruby/dav.rb:

- class Unlock < ::Net::NetPrivate::HTTPRequest
Q:  what is the :: before Net mean?

- define_http_method_interface :PropFind, true, true
Q: what is the : before PropFind mean? From the menu I know that I can
use attr_reader. It seems to me that attr_reader is a special directive.
But from this example, define_http_method_interface seems a method. So I
guess attr_reader is defined as a method in Object? Anyway, what is the
colon before a variable mean?

2. In \ruby\lib\ruby\1.6\net\http.rb:

- class << self
Q: difference between << and < in class definition?

- def HTTP.get( addr, path, port = nil )
Q: difference between HTTP.get and HTTP#get? I vaguely know there are a
notation of class method and instance method, but which is  which? and
in a class, can I just say def get(...) without HTTP. ?

I have a lot more similar questions. When I read the html help file, I
can not use search to find any information!

Could anyone please tell me how can I effectively find information about
the GRAMMA of ruby? And please, if you know, explain the above syntax to
me. Thanks a lot!!!

Shannon