Metaclass/Singleton class question

Rails
1

I understand that (class << self; self; end) returns the singelton class
of object that is calling it but why would use that instead of self <<
MyClass …?

For example, arent these all equivalent?

class << String
def foo
puts “foo”
end
end

class String
class << self
def foo
puts “foo”
end
end
end

class String
(class << self; self; end).module_eval do
def foo
puts “foo”
end
end
end

So why would you use the more obscure (class << self; self; end)
technique? Can someone please explain.

2

On 26 Oct 2008, at 18:30, Joe B. wrote:

puts “foo”

class String
(class << self; self; end).module_eval do
def foo
puts “foo”
end
end
end

So why would you use the more obscure (class << self; self; end)
technique? Can someone please explain.

if self isn’t a class for example

class Object
def meta
(class << self; self; end)
end
end

x = “123”
x.meta.module_eval do
def foo
puts “foo”
end
end

x.foo

you could of course have just done

def x.foo
puts “foo”
end

but sometimes you want to more than just add a method.

Fred