extend self in ruby

Following code was tested with ruby 1.9.3 .

Class is meant for both data and behavior

Lets look at this ruby code.

class Util
  def self.double(i)
   i*2
  end
end

Util.double(4) #=> 8

Here we have a Util class. But notice that all the methods on this class are class methods. This class does not have any instance variables. Usually a class is used to carry both data and behavior and ,in this case, the Util class has only behavior and no data.

Similar utility tools in ruby

Now to get some perspective on this discussion lets look at some ruby methods that do similar thing. Here are a few.

require 'base64'
Base64.encode64('hello world') #=> "aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=\n"

require 'benchmark'
Benchmark.measure { 10*2000 }

require 'fileutils'
FileUtils.chmod 0644, 'test.rb'

Math.sqrt(4) #=> 2

In all the above cases the class method is invoked without creating an instance first. So this is similar to the way I used Util.double .

However lets see what is the class of all these objects.

Base64.class #=> Module
Benchmark.class #=> Module
FileUtils.class #=> Module
Math.class #=> Module

So these are not classes but modules. That begs the question why the smart guys at ruby-core implemented them as modules instead of creating a class the way I did for Util.

Reason is that Class is too heavy for creating only methods like double. As we discussed earlier a class is supposed to have both data and behavior. If the only thing you care about is behavior then ruby suggests to implement it as a module.

extend self is the answer

Before I go on to discuss extend self here is how my Util class will look after moving from Class to Module.

module Util
  extend self

  def double(i)
    i * 2
  end
end

puts Util.double(4) #=> 8

So how does extend self work

First lets see what extend does.

module M
 def double(i)
  i * 2
 end
end

class Calculator
  extend M
end
puts Calculator.double(4)

In the above case Calculator is extending module M and hence all the instance methods of module M are directly available to Calculator.

In this case Calculator is a class that extended the module M. However Calculator does not have to be a class to extend a module.

Now lets try a variation where Calculator is a module.

module M
 def double(i)
  i * 2
 end
end

module Calculator
  extend M
end
puts Calculator.double(4) #=> 8

Here Calculator is a module that is extending another module.

Now that we understand that a module can extend another module look at the above code and question why module M is even needed. Why can't we move the method double to module Calculator directly. Let's try that.

module Calculator
  extend Calculator

   def double(i)
    i * 2
   end
end
puts Calculator.double(4) #=> 8

I got rid of module M and moved the method double inside module Calculator. Since module M is gone I changed from extend M to extend Calculator.

One last fix.

Inside the module Calculator what is self. self is the module Calculator itself. So there is no need to repeat Calculator twice. Here is the final version

module Calculator
  extend self

   def double(i)
    i * 2
   end
end
puts Calculator.double(4) #=> 8

Converting A Class into a Module

Every time I would encounter code like extend self my brain will pause for a moment. Then I would google for it. Will read about it. Three months later I will repeat the whole process.

The best way to learn it is to use it. So I started looking for a case to use extend self. It is not a good practice to go hunting for code to apply an idea you have in your mind but here I was trying to learn.

Here is a before snapshot of methods from Util class I used in a project.

class Util
  def self.config2hash(file); end
  def self.in_cents(amount); end
  def self.localhost2public_url(url, protocol); end
end

After using extend self code became

module Util
  extend self

  def config2hash(file); end
  def in_cents(amount); end
  def localhost2public_url(url, protocol); end
end

Much better. It makes the intent clear and ,I believe, it is in line with the way ruby would expect us to use.

Another usage inline with how Rails uses extend self

Here I am building an ecommerce application and each new order needs to get a new order number from a third party sales application. The code might look like this. I have omitted the implementation of the methods because they are not relevant to this discussion.

class Order
  def amount; end
  def buyer; end
  def shipped_at; end
  def number
    @number || self.class.next_order_number
  end

  def self.next_order_number; 'A100'; end
end

puts Order.new.number #=> A100

Here the method next_order_number might be making a complicated call to another sales system. Ideally the class Order should not expose method next_order_number . So we can make this method private but that does not solve the root problem. The problem is that model Order should not know how the new order number is generated. Well we can move the method next_order_number to another Util class but that would create too much distance.

Here is a solution using extend self.

module Checkout
  extend self

  def next_order_number; 'A100'; end

  class Order
    def amount; end
    def buyer; end
    def shipped_at; end
    def number
      @number || Checkout.next_order_number
    end
  end
end

puts Checkout::Order.new.number #=> A100

Much better. The class Order is not exposing method next_order_number and this method is right there in the same file. No need to open the Util class.

To see practical examples of extend self please look at Rails source code and search for extend self. You will find some interesting usage.

This is my first serious attempt to learn usage of extend self so that next time when I come across such code my brain does not freeze. If you think I have missed out something then do let me know.