Accessing constants outside a class

Question

When I want to access the constant CONST in class Test in

class Test
  CONST = 7
end

from outside of the class, I have to do this:

puts Test::CONST

Why do I get an error when I do this?

puts obj::CONST

If obj is an object of the Test class, why do I get an error if I try to access the constant through the object?

Answer 1

Because an instance object and a class object are not the same thing. The namespace exists on the class object, and does not exist on the instance.

You can, however, ask the instance for it's class, then drill into that.

puts obj.class::CONST