CBlair1986 wrote:
> Hi all! I've got a question, and I hope it can be answered. I'm
> currently using attr_accessor to set up a list of variables that are
> accessed throughout a class, and I'm running into trouble.
>
> See, I've got something like the following:
>
> class Test
>   attr_accessor :timer
>   def initialize
>     @timer = Time.now
>   end
>
>   def update_timer
>     timer = Time.now
>   end
> end
>
> But, as simple as it looks, it doesn't work. I'll make a new Test
> object and call update_timer all I want, and it won't update. It seems
> a bit counter-intuitive. I've made an accessor for a variable that I
> declare when initialized, and then go to change it, and it doesn't
> work.
>
> However, if I change the 'timer' in update_timer to '@timer', it works
> perfectly fine. Why is this?
> 
> Thank you!

@timer is an instance variable; timer isn't.