From: ts Date: 2004-02-26T22:10:59+09:00 Subject: Re: Why don't $global and @instance variables need *initialization*? >>>>> "D" == David Garamond writes: D> NameError: undefined local variable or method `a' for main:Object ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The message is important : ruby don't know if it's a variable or a method and can't initialize it. Guy Decoux