Hi --

On Wed, 6 Dec 2006, gwtmp01 / mac.com wrote:

>
> On Dec 5, 2006, at 11:45 AM, Paul Lutus wrote:
>> In Ruby, variables used within a method are marked this way:
>> [..]
>> @example  # class instance variable
>
> This doesn't seem like standard terminology to me.  Usually these
> are simply called 'instance variables' as each instance of a class
> (or each object if you prefer) has its own private set of instance
> variables.  These variables belong to the instance (object) and not
> to the associated class.

Sometimes people say "class instance variable" to mean "instance
variable of a class object", if for some reason it seems like just
saying "instance variable" might sound like it means "instance
variable in an instance method" (and I think that ambiguity can arise,
in some conversational contexts).  But "class instance variable" never
means or implies or connotes "instance variable" in general, and at
the language level there's no separate "class instance variable"
construct or entity.


David

-- 
                   David A. Black | dblack / wobblini.net
Author of "Ruby for Rails"   [1] | Ruby/Rails training & consultancy [3]
DABlog (DAB's Weblog)        [2] | Co-director, Ruby Central, Inc.   [4]
[1] http://www.manning.com/black | [3] http://www.rubypowerandlight.com
[2] http://dablog.rubypal.com    | [4] http://www.rubycentral.org