When to use `self.foo` instead of `foo` in Ruby methods

Question

This is not specific for Rails - I am just using Rails as an example.

I have a model in Rails:

class Item < ActiveRecord::Base

  def hello
    p         


        

Answer 1

Following this tutorial, you have no need to use self pointer. But i think this (or self in our case) pointers are used to resolve name conflicts. Actually, @name and self.name are the same statements (if there is no name method for your class). E.g.:

class Moo
  attr_accessor :name

  def moo(name)
    name = name # O_o which *name* should i use?
  end

  def foo(name)
    @name = name # the same as *self.name = name*
  end

  def hello
    puts self.name # the same as *puts @name*
  end
end

a = Moo.new
a.hello() # should give no output

a.moo('zaooza')
a.hello() # Hey! Why does it prints nothing?

a.foo('zaooza')
a.hello() # whoa! This one shows 'zaooza'!

Try running this code and you'll see =)