Explicitly specify default method target in Ruby?

Question

Is there a best practice in Ruby when it comes to explicitly specifying method targets even when unnecessary?

class Foo
    def meth1
     puts "bar"
    end

    def meth2
     # is this better?
     self.meth1

     # or this?
     meth1
    end
end

Answer 1

No, it's just a question of style.

The only thing to keep in mind is that you always have to specify a target for setter methods.

foo_count = 4 #creates a local variable named foo_count and sets it to 4
self.foo_count = 4 #sends foo_count=(4) to self

The same rule applies if you happen to have a local variable with the same name as a method of your class, though I would say that is a bad practice in itself.

Answer 2

As Chuck said earlier, it is mostly a matter of style with the exception he pointed out, and when using private methods. Any time you use a private method from within an object, you must leave off the self. business.

Eg:

class Tze
  def meth2
    meth1
  end

  def meth3
    self.meth1
  end

  private
  def meth1
    puts "method 1 invoked"
  end
end

Calling Tze.new.meth2 produces the expected output; however, calling Tze.new.meth3 raises an error because of meth1 is being invoked as self.meth1.