What is significant about the "::" notation?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What is Ruby's double-colon (::) all about?

What is the "::" telling me in this code example? I'm working thru the ruby koans and don't fully understand this code chuck.

class ::Integer
  def even?
    (self % 2) == 0
  end
end

not a duplicate of the referenced question. This is more specifically about `::` as a *root-level* namespace identifier, not as a generic scope resolution operator — Gareth, Sep 06 '11 at 00:26
Looks like there much more of those, who are able to vote to close a question, that those, who are really understand it. — Nakilon, Nov 26 '12 at 09:16

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 06 '11 at 00:10

4

It's going to the root namespace.

answered Sep 06 '11 at 00:10

Daniel A. White

If that's true is there a long form I could use instead? I assume there is nothing ahead of the "::" because that is shorthand for ::Integer? – David Sep 06 '11 at 00:14
no, it's the opposite; to say that you're looking for `Integer` in the *top* namespace, *without* anything in front of it. Otherwise, inside of a module `Foo`, a reference to `Integer` would point to `Foo::Integer` if it existed – Gareth Sep 06 '11 at 00:25

score -1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:19

-1

It's the namespace resolution operator.

This S/O question has more detail:

edited May 23 '17 at 12:19

Community

answered Sep 06 '11 at 00:10

Russ Clarke

2 Answers2