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Ruby

Posted by Jonathan Carpenter
Jonathan Carpenter
10,251 Points

What Does attr_reader Do?

I didn't quite understand what this method(?) does. The Ruby Docs go right over my head. Can someone explain what this does?

Thanks in advance!

1 Answer

Milo Winningham
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Milo Winningham
Web Development Techdegree Student 3,317 Points
Milo Winningham
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Milo Winningham
Web Development Techdegree Student 3,317 Points

attr_reader :attribute_name is basically shorthand to create a method that returns @attribute_name:

def attribute_name
  @attribute_name
end

attr_accessor does the same thing but also creates a method that can be used to set the instance variable. attr_accessor :attribute_name would create the same method shown above, plus this:

def attribute_name=(value)
  @attribute_name = value
end