Question

Is there a specific reason I need the self in this model’s method? I’m accessing it from another controller.

  def self.search(query)
    if query
      find(:all, conditions: ['lower(first_name) LIKE ? OR lower(last_name) LIKE ?', "%#{query.downcase}%", "%#{query.downcase}%"])
    else
      find(:all)
    end
  end

Answer 1

In ruby, self is used for class methods (as opposed to instance methods), which are equivalent to static methods in other languages.

Example:

class Wtf
    def omg
    end
    def self.lol
    end
end

Wtf.new.omg
Wtf.lol