In Ruby what does the line "class ClassName < Base" mean in this context

Question

Given the code

require 'gdata'

class Contacts
  class Gmail < Base

What does it mean when we say "< Base", does it mean inheriting from the Base class defined in the module gdata, in that case wouldn't there be a conflict with some other module that may be required too.

Or does it mean something else?

Answer 1

Base has no special meaning.

ruby-1.9.2-p180 :001 > Base.inspect
NameError: uninitialized constant Object::Base

Unless a class called Base or Contacts::Base is defined in gdata, that example should generate an error.

class Base
  def self.hello
    "oh hi!"
  end
end

class Base2
  def self.hello
    "ahoy!"
  end
end

class Contacts
  class Base
    def self.hello
      "hi 2 u"
    end
  end
  class Gmail < Base
  end
  class Gmail2 < Base2
  end
end

ruby-1.9.2-p180 :024 > Base.hello
 => "oh hi!" 
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :025 > Contacts::Gmail.hello
 => "hi 2 u" 
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :026 > Contacts::Gmail2.hello
 => "ahoy!"