Modules

Modules

A Module is a collection of methods and constants. Module methods may be called without creating an encapsulating object

module ModuleExample
  def foo
    'foo'
  end
end

# Including modules binds the methods to the object instance
# Extending modules binds the methods to the class instance

class Person
  include ModuleExample
end

class Book
  extend ModuleExample
end

Person.foo     # => NoMethodError: undefined method `foo' for Person:Class
Person.new.foo # => 'foo'
Book.foo       # => 'foo'
Book.new.foo   # => NoMethodError: undefined method `foo'

Including Modules II

# Callbacks when including and extending a module are executed    
module ConcernExample
  def self.included(base)
    base.extend(ClassMethods)
    base.send(:include, InstanceMethods)
  end

  module ClassMethods
    def bar
      'bar'
    end
  end

  module InstanceMethods
    def qux
      'qux'
    end
  end
end

class Something
  include ConcernExample
end

Something.bar     # => 'bar'
Something.qux     # => NoMethodError: undefined method `qux'
Something.new.bar # => NoMethodError: undefined method `bar'
Something.new.qux # => 'qux'