Ruby Class Methods vs. Methods in Eigenclasses

Question

Are class methods and methods in the eigenclass (or metaclass) of that class just two ways to define one thing?

Otherwise, what are the differences?

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Answer 1

Most instance methods used in Ruby are global methods. That means they are available in all instances of the class on which they were defined. In contrast, a singleton method is implemented on a single object.

There is an apparent contradiction. Ruby stores methods in classes and all methods must be associated with a class. The object on which a singleton method is defined is not a class (it is an instance of a class). If only classes can store methods, how can an object store a singleton method? When a singleton method is created, Ruby automatically creates an anonymous class to store that method. These anonymous classes are called metaclasses, also known as singleton classes or eigenclasses. The singleton method is associated with the metaclass which, in turn, is associated with the object on which the singleton method was defined.

If multiple singleton methods are defined within a single object, they are all stored in the same metaclass.

class Zen
end

z1 = Zen.new
z2 = Zen.new

def z1.say_hello  # Notice that the method name is prefixed with the object name
  puts "Hello!"
end

z1.say_hello    # Output: Hello!
z2.say_hello    # Output: NoMethodError: undefined method `say_hello'…

In the above example, the say_hello method was defined within the z1 instance of the Zen class but not the z2 instance.

The following example shows a different way to define a singleton method, with the same result.

class Zen
end

z1 = Zen.new
z2 = Zen.new

class << z1
  def say_hello
    puts "Hello!"
  end
end

z1.say_hello    # Output: Hello!
z2.say_hello    # Output: NoMethodError: undefined method `say_hello'…

In the above example, class << z1 changes the current self to point to the metaclass of the z1 object; then, it defines the say_hello method within the metaclass.

Both of the above examples serve to illustrate how singleton methods work. There is, however, an easier way to define a singleton method: using a built-in method called define_singleton_method.

class Zen
end

z1 = Zen.new
z2 = Zen.new

z1.define_singleton_method(:say_hello) { puts "Hello!" }

z1.say_hello    # Output: Hello!
z2.say_hello    # Output: NoMethodError: undefined method `say_hello'…

We learned earlier that classes are also objects (instances of the built-in class called Class). We also learned about class methods. Class methods are nothing more than singleton methods associated with a class object.

One more example:

class Zabuton
  class << self
    def stuff
      puts "Stuffing zabuton…"
    end
  end
end

All objects may have metaclasses. That means classes can also have metaclasses. In the above example, class << self modifies self so it points to the metaclass of the Zabuton class. When a method is defined without an explicit receiver (the class/object on which the method will be defined), it is implicitly defined within the current scope, that is, the current value of self. Hence, the stuff method is defined within the metaclass of the Zabuton class. The above example is just another way to define a class method.

Read more at this post about Ruby Classes.