gotcharubyCritical
What is the difference between include and extend in Ruby?
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Problem
Just getting my head around Ruby metaprogramming. The mixin/modules always manage to confuse me.
So is the major difference just this or is a bigger dragon lurking?
e.g.
- include: mixes in specified module methods as instance methods in the target class
- extend: mixes in specified module methods as class methods in the target class
So is the major difference just this or is a bigger dragon lurking?
e.g.
module ReusableModule
def module_method
puts "Module Method: Hi there!"
end
end
class ClassThatIncludes
include ReusableModule
end
class ClassThatExtends
extend ReusableModule
end
puts "Include"
ClassThatIncludes.new.module_method # "Module Method: Hi there!"
puts "Extend"
ClassThatExtends.module_method # "Module Method: Hi there!"Solution
What you have said is correct. However, there is more to it than that.
If you have a class
If you have a class
Klazz and module Mod, including Mod in Klazz gives instances of Klazz access to Mod's methods. Or you can extend Klazz with Mod giving the class Klazz access to Mod's methods. But you can also extend an arbitrary object with o.extend Mod. In this case the individual object gets Mod's methods even though all other objects with the same class as o do not.Context
Stack Overflow Q#156362, score: 286
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