Self in Ruby

As a reminder to self (how meta…), here’s a quick intro to self in Ruby

self is a simple concept, it’s a reference to an object that changes depending on where self is called e.g.

self # main

class MyClass
	puts self # MyClass

	def MyClass.a_class_method  # this could also be self.a_class_method
		puts self #MyClass
	end

	def an_instance_method
		puts self # an instance of MyClass
	end

	module M
		puts self # MyClass::M because this module is encapsulated by MyClass
	end

end

What’s really important to know is that self is the default receiver of messages (method calls).

Adi Pradhan

Self in Ruby