Question

Consider the following sample ruby class

class User
  def hello
    puts "hello"
  end
end

now, for initialization. there are two ways

normal variable

1.9.3p125  > tr = User.new
 => #<User:0x98778c4>
1.9.3p125  > tr.hello
 Hello world
 => nil`

Instance variables:

1.9.3p125 > @tr = User.new
 => #<User:0x9890f2c>
1.9.3p125 > @tr.hello
Hello world
 => nil

Now, in both cases it works the same. so what is the difference between normal variable vs instance variable?

Answer 1

A normal variable has scope only within the current context; an instance variable has scope throughout one instance of a class. In your case they’re confused because the context is main, which acts as an instance of Object.

Consider the following, which may make things clearer

class User
  def set_name
    @name = "Bob"
    surname = "Cratchett"
  end

  def hi
    puts "Hello, " + @name
  end

  def hello
    puts "Hello, Mr " + surname
  end
end

irb(main):022:0> u = User.new
=> #<User:0x29cbfb0>
irb(main):023:0> u.set_name
irb(main):024:0> u.hi
Hello, Bob
=> nil
irb(main):025:0> u.hello
NameError: undefined local variable or method `surname' for #<User:0x29cbfb0 @name="Bob">