问题
I read \"When do Ruby instance variables get set?\" but I\'m of two minds when to use class instance variables.
Class variables are shared by all objects of a class, Instance variables belong to one object. There\'s not much room left to use class instance variables if we have class variables.
Could someone explain the difference between these two and when to use them?
Here\'s a code example:
class S
@@k = 23
@s = 15
def self.s
@s
end
def self.k
@@k
end
end
p S.s #15
p S.k #23
I understand now, Class Instance Variables are not passed along the inheritance chain!
回答1:
Instance variable on a class:
class Parent
@things = []
def self.things
@things
end
def things
self.class.things
end
end
class Child < Parent
@things = []
end
Parent.things << :car
Child.things << :doll
mom = Parent.new
dad = Parent.new
p Parent.things #=> [:car]
p Child.things #=> [:doll]
p mom.things #=> [:car]
p dad.things #=> [:car]
Class variable:
class Parent
@@things = []
def self.things
@@things
end
def things
@@things
end
end
class Child < Parent
end
Parent.things << :car
Child.things << :doll
p Parent.things #=> [:car,:doll]
p Child.things #=> [:car,:doll]
mom = Parent.new
dad = Parent.new
son1 = Child.new
son2 = Child.new
daughter = Child.new
[ mom, dad, son1, son2, daughter ].each{ |person| p person.things }
#=> [:car, :doll]
#=> [:car, :doll]
#=> [:car, :doll]
#=> [:car, :doll]
#=> [:car, :doll]
With an instance variable on a class (not on an instance of that class) you can store something common to that class without having sub-classes automatically also get them (and vice-versa). With class variables, you have the convenience of not having to write self.class from an instance object, and (when desirable) you also get automatic sharing throughout the class hierarchy.
Merging these together into a single example that also covers instance variables on instances:
class Parent
@@family_things = [] # Shared between class and subclasses
@shared_things = [] # Specific to this class
def self.family_things
@@family_things
end
def self.shared_things
@shared_things
end
attr_accessor :my_things
def initialize
@my_things = [] # Just for me
end
def family_things
self.class.family_things
end
def shared_things
self.class.shared_things
end
end
class Child < Parent
@shared_things = []
end
And then in action:
mama = Parent.new
papa = Parent.new
joey = Child.new
suzy = Child.new
Parent.family_things << :house
papa.family_things << :vacuum
mama.shared_things << :car
papa.shared_things << :blender
papa.my_things << :quadcopter
joey.my_things << :bike
suzy.my_things << :doll
joey.shared_things << :puzzle
suzy.shared_things << :blocks
p Parent.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p Child.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p papa.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p mama.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p joey.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p suzy.family_things #=> [:house, :vacuum]
p Parent.shared_things #=> [:car, :blender]
p papa.shared_things #=> [:car, :blender]
p mama.shared_things #=> [:car, :blender]
p Child.shared_things #=> [:puzzle, :blocks]
p joey.shared_things #=> [:puzzle, :blocks]
p suzy.shared_things #=> [:puzzle, :blocks]
p papa.my_things #=> [:quadcopter]
p mama.my_things #=> []
p joey.my_things #=> [:bike]
p suzy.my_things #=> [:doll]
回答2:
I believe the main (only?) different is inheritance:
class T < S
end
p T.k
=> 23
S.k = 24
p T.k
=> 24
p T.s
=> nil
Class variables are shared by all "class instances" (i.e. subclasses), whereas class instance variables are specific to only that class. But if you never intend to extend your class, the difference is purely academic.
回答3:
Class instance variables are available only to class methods and not to instance methods, whereas class variables are available to both instance methods and class methods.
Also class instance variables are lost in the inheritance chain, whereas class variables are not.
class Vars
@class_ins_var = "class instance variable value" #class instance variable
@@class_var = "class variable value" #class variable
def self.class_method
puts @class_ins_var
puts @@class_var
end
def instance_method
puts @class_ins_var
puts @@class_var
end
end
Vars.class_method
puts "see the difference"
obj = Vars.new
obj.instance_method
class VarsChild < Vars
end
VarsChild.class_method
回答4:
As others said, class variables are shared between a given class and its subclasses. Class instance variables belong to exactly one class; its subclasses are separate.
Why does this behavior exist? Well, everything in Ruby is an object—even classes. That means that each class has an object of the class Class (or rather, a subclass of Class) corresponding to it. (When you say class Foo, you're really declaring a constant Foo and assigning a class object to it.) And every Ruby object can have instance variables, so class objects can have instance variables, too.
The trouble is, instance variables on class objects don't really behave the way you usually want class variables to behave. You usually want a class variable defined in a superclass to be shared with its subclasses, but that's not how instance variables work—the subclass has its own class object, and that class object has its own instance variables. So they introduced separate class variables with the behavior you're more likely to want.
In other words, class instance variables are sort of an accident of Ruby's design. You probably shouldn't use them unless you specifically know they're what you're looking for.
回答5:
For those with a C++ background, you may be interested in a comparison with the C++ equivalent:
class S
{
private: // this is not quite true, in Ruby you can still access these
static int k = 23;
int s = 15;
public:
int get_s() { return s; }
static int get_k() { return k; }
};
std::cerr << S::k() << "\n";
S instance;
std::cerr << instance.s() << "\n";
std::cerr << instance.k() << "\n";
As we can see, k is a static like variable. This is 100% like a global variable, except that it's owned by the class (scoped to be correct). This makes it easier to avoid clashes between similarly named variables. Like any global variable, there is just one instance of that variable and modifying it is always visible by all.
On the other hand, s is an object specific value. Each object has its own instance of the value. In C++, you must create an instance to have access to that variable. In Ruby, the class definition is itself an instance of the class (in JavaScript, this is called a prototype), therefore you can access s from the class without additional instantiation. The class instance can be modified, but modification of s is going to be specific to each instance (each object of type S). So modifying one will not change the value in another.
回答6:
While it may immediately seem useful to utilize class instance variables, since class instance variable are shared among subclasses and they can be referred to within both singleton and instance methods, there is a singificant drawback. They are shared and so subclasses can change the value of the class instance variable, and the base class will also be affected by the change, which is usually undesirable behavior:
class C
@@c = 'c'
def self.c_val
@@c
end
end
C.c_val
=> "c"
class D < C
end
D.instance_eval do
def change_c_val
@@c = 'd'
end
end
=> :change_c_val
D.change_c_val
(irb):12: warning: class variable access from toplevel
=> "d"
C.c_val
=> "d"
Rails introduces a handy method called class_attribute. As the name implies, it declares a class-level attribute whose value is inheritable by subclasses. The class_attribute value can be accessed in both singleton and instance methods, as is the case with the class instance variable. However, the huge benefit with class_attribute in Rails is subclasses can change their own value and it will not impact parent class.
class C
class_attribute :c
self.c = 'c'
end
C.c
=> "c"
class D < C
end
D.c = 'd'
=> "d"
C.c
=> "c"
回答7:
Official Ruby FAQ: What is the difference between class variables and class instance variables?
The main difference is the behavior concerning inheritance: class variables are shared between a class and all its subclasses, while class instance variables only belong to one specific class.
Class variables in some way can be seen as global variables within the context of an inheritance hierarchy, with all the problems that come with global variables. For instance, a class variable might (accidentally) be reassigned by any of its subclasses, affecting all other classes:
class Woof
@@sound = "woof"
def self.sound
@@sound
end
end
Woof.sound # => "woof"
class LoudWoof < Woof
@@sound = "WOOF"
end
LoudWoof.sound # => "WOOF"
Woof.sound # => "WOOF" (!)
Or, an ancestor class might later be reopened and changed, with possibly surprising effects:
class Foo
@@var = "foo"
def self.var
@@var
end
end
Foo.var # => "foo" (as expected)
class Object
@@var = "object"
end
Foo.var # => "object" (!)
So, unless you exactly know what you are doing and explicitly need this kind of behavior, you better should use class instance variables.
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15773552/ruby-class-instance-variable-vs-class-variable