Question

class Parent
  def test
    return
  end
end

class Child < Parent
  def test
    super
    p "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!"
  end
end

c = Child.new
c.test

I though that, since the test method from the Parent class immediately uses the return statement, it should not be possible to print the line of the Child class. But it is indeed printed. Why is that?

Ruby 1.8.7, Mac OSX.

Answer 1

super acts like a method call that calls the superclass’s method implementation. In your example, the return keyword returns from Parent::test and continues executing Child::test, just like any other method call would.