Easy introspection in Ruby
August 9, 2006
Just some notes on reflection and introspection in Ruby
someString = 'http://google.com'
# Print the object's class, methods, superclass and
# ancestors (mixins and superclasses),
p someString.class
p someString.methods
p someString.class.superclass
p someString.class.ancestors
# Print the methods of the String class.
p String.private_instance_methods(false)
p String.public_instance_methods(false)
# Pass true to recurse into parent classes.
p String.public_instance_methods(true)
# Calling instance methods with send().
"Random text".send(:length) # 11
-23.send(:succ) # 22
# Using Method objects and call().
length_method = "Random text".method(:length)
length_method.call # 11
# Another way, using eval().
length_method = %q{"Random text".length}
eval length_method
Check out Distributed Ruby (DRb): it’s a very neat, non-fancy way of exposing object methods as remote services.
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