# Don't understand :: in ActionController::Base **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392 "2006-07-14T11:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/1 "2006-07-14T11:17:19Z")
Maybe this should apply to Ruby forums directly, but I’ll try here. I understand the concept of classes and subclasses thanks to the excellent “Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide”. However, I don’t understand what :: signify in terms of inheritance, parent and child in e.g. ActionController::Base ---
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 11:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/2 "2006-07-14T11:24:17Z")
PÃ¥l Bergström wrote: > Maybe this should apply to Ruby forums directly, but I’ll try here. > > I understand the concept of classes and subclasses thanks to the > excellent “Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide”. > However, I don’t understand what :: signify in terms of inheritance, > parent and child in e.g. > > ActionController::Base You’re correct, this is definitely not a question for rails-talk. Take a look at ruby-talk instead. (Btw, if you actually have read the pickaxe, may I refer you to chapter 9, starting at page 117?) – Ola B. ([http://ola-bini.blogspot.com](http://ola-bini.blogspot.com)) JvYAML, RbYAML, JRuby and Jatha contributor System Developer, Karolinska Institutet ([http://www.ki.se](http://www.ki.se)) OLogix Consulting ([http://www.ologix.com](http://www.ologix.com)) “Yields falsehood when quined” yields falsehood when quined. ---
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/3 "2006-07-14T13:59:21Z")
Ola B. wrote: > PÃ¥l Bergström wrote: > > > Maybe this should apply to Ruby forums directly, but I’ll try here. > > > > I understand the concept of classes and subclasses thanks to the > > excellent “Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer’s Guide”. > > However, I don’t understand what :: signify in terms of inheritance, > > parent and child in e.g. > > > > ActionController::Base > > You’re correct, this is definitely not a question for rails-talk. Take a > look at ruby-talk instead. (Btw, if you actually have read the pickaxe, > may I refer you to chapter 9, starting at page 117?) Definitely was harsh. I thought ActionController::Base was part of RoR 🙂 I read it on the web with no chapters, so if you could be more specific I would be very thankful. ---
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/4 "2006-07-14T14:31:31Z")
Put simply… you have to understand Ruby before you really understand Rails. David Black’s excellent book Ruby for Rails is a definite read if you are having trouble with the concepts. Don’t take this personally, but there have been a lot of questions posted to this list lately that really have more to do with the fundamentals of the Ruby language than with the way Rails works. Sometimes the line is blurry and it’s hard to tell. -bph. ---
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/5 "2006-07-15T10:39:38Z")
On Friday 14 July 2006 13:11, PÃ¥l Bergström wrote: > I can’t help Ruby and RoR is so closely related and the documentation > is what it is. Maybe this is why you get a lot of questions about Ruby > here in RoR? The documentation has some things to wish for. Not Ruby > itself. That has been the easy part. But your problem _is_ with ruby itself. > For what I know a > question in the Ruby forum could give the answer that :: is a RoR thing > and should be answered here. Right? It’s pretty rare (even in the ruby world) that a framework adds its own custom operator(s) to a language 🙂 Re-read the relevant parts of the pickaxe – good keywords to look for are e.g. “namespace”, “operator”, “modules” ---
**Author:** ![paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@paulbutcher](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/paulbutcher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dont-understand-in-actioncontroller-base/98392/6 "2006-07-14T15:11:33Z")
Brian H. wrote: > Put simply… you have to understand Ruby before you really understand > Rails. David Black’s excellent book Ruby for Rails is a definite read if > you > are having trouble with the concepts. > > Don’t take this personally, but there have been a lot of questions > posted to > this list lately that really have more to do with the fundamentals of > the > Ruby language than with the way Rails works. Sometimes the line is > blurry > and it’s hard to tell. > > -bph. I understand. Don’t worry Brian. I don’t take it personally. Not the first time I use a forum and give answers myself. We’re all newbies in the beginning, and it sometimes takes some patience with the level people are on. But I always try to give my best to those who ask, no matter what, and not give non-answers. 🙂 I can’t help Ruby and RoR is so closely related and the documentation is what it is. Maybe this is why you get a lot of questions about Ruby here in RoR? The documentation has some things to wish for. Not Ruby itself. That has been the easy part. But I haven’t read all of it, as I want to get started as soon as possible by building in RoR and learn as I go along. That is how I’ve learned other languages. For what I know a question in the Ruby forum could give the answer that :: is a RoR thing and should be answered here. Right? So I’ll pop over to the Ruby forum and ask there. Maybe I’ll see you there? 🙂