Ruby - Modules
Modules in ruby are similar to classes, except:
- A module can have no instances.
- A module can have no subclasses.
- A module is defined by
module ... end.
Actually... the Module class of module is the superclass of the
Class class of class. Got that? No? Let's move
on.
There are two typical uses of modules. One is to collect
related methods and constants in a central location. The
Math module in ruby's standard library plays such a
role:
ruby> Math.sqrt(2)
1.41421
ruby> Math::PI
3.14159 |
The :: operator tells the ruby interpreter which module it
should consult for the value of a constant (conceivably, some module
besides Math might mean something else by PI).
If we want to refer to the methods or constants of a module directly
without using ::, we can include that module:
ruby> include Math
Object
ruby> sqrt(2)
1.41421
ruby> PI
3.14159 |
Another use of modules is called mixin. Some OO
programming langages, including C++, allow multiple
inheritance, that is, inheritance from more than one
superclass. A real-world example of multiple inheritance is an
alarm clock; you can think of alarm clocks as belonging to the class
of clocks and also the class of things with
buzzers.
Ruby purposely does not implement true multiple inheritance, but
the mixin technique is a good alternative. Remember that
modules cannot be instantiated or subclassed; but if we
include a module in a class definition, its methods are
effectively appended, or "mixed in", to the class.
Mixin can be thought of as a way of asking for whatever particular
properties we want to have. For example, if a class has a
working each method, mixing in the standard library's
Enumerable module gives us sort and
find methods for free.
This use of modules gives us the basic functionality of multiple
inheritance but allows us to represent class relationships with a
simple tree structure, and so simplifies the language implementation
considerably (a similar choice was made by the designers of Java).
