So I have a Model class like this:
attr_accessible :email, :firstname, :lastname, :phones_attributes
and even validations in that model like this:
validates :firstname, presence: true
Notice all of them are using that ":" symbol before the variable names.
But then in that Model I have a method like this:
def name
[firstname, lastname].join(' ')
end
So how come we didn't need to type those ":" before variable names this time? What's the difference?
You see, what you pass to attr_accessor is not actually a variable, but rather, the name of a variable. The name of a variable is a symbol, and :name is the literal syntax for symbols. In your name method, you are actually using a variable, not just it's name, and as such, no :.
In more detail, attr_accessor is never using the variable directly. Rather, it is using methods that get the variable by name. So, it needs the name, rather than the variable.
Look at the symbols as simple string denoting something in a "Rails's way". So this is same as:
attr_accessible "email", "firstname", "lastname", "phones_attributes"
However in the instance method name, firstname and lastname are actually understood as model_object.firstname, model_object.lastname etc. Hence, no colon.
