# abstract class Class

- Class
- Value
- Object

##
Defined in:

##
Constructors

- .cast(other) : self

  Casts other to this class.

##
Class Method Summary

- .<(other : T.class) : Bool forall T

  Returns whether this class inherits or includes other.

- .<=(other : T.class) : Bool forall T

  Returns whether this class inherits or includes other, or is equal to other.

- .==(other : Class) : Bool

  Returns whether this class is the same as other.

- .===(other)

  Case equality.

- .>(other : T.class) forall T

  Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`.

- .>=(other : T.class) forall T

  Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`, or is equal to `self`.

- .clone
- .dup

  Returns a shallow copy of this object.

- .hash(hasher)

  See `Object#hash(hasher)`

- .inspect(io : IO) : Nil

  Appends a string representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

- .name : String

  Returns the name of this class.

- .nilable?

  Returns `true` if this class is `Nil`.

- .to_s(io : IO) : Nil

  Appends a `String` representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

- .|(other : U.class) forall U

  Returns the union type of `self` and other.

##
Instance Method Summary

- #<(other : T.class) : Bool forall T

  Returns whether this class inherits or includes other.

- #<=(other : T.class) : Bool forall T

  Returns whether this class inherits or includes other, or is equal to other.

- #==(other : Class) : Bool

  Returns whether this class is the same as other.

- #===(other)

  Case equality.

- #>(other : T.class) forall T

  Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`.

- #>=(other : T.class) forall T

  Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`, or is equal to `self`.

- #cast(other) : self

  Casts other to this class.

- #clone
- #dup

  Returns a shallow copy of this object.

- #hash(hasher)

  See `Object#hash(hasher)`

- #inspect(io : IO) : Nil

  Appends a string representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

- #name : String

  Returns the name of this class.

- #nilable?

  Returns `true` if this class is `Nil`.

- #to_s(io : IO) : Nil

  Appends a `String` representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

- #|(other : U.class) forall U

  Returns the union type of `self` and other.

### Instance methods inherited from struct `Value`

==(other : JSON::Any)
==(other : YAML::Any)
==(other) ==, dup dup

### Instance methods inherited from class `Object`

!=(other) !=, !~(other) !~, ==(other) ==, ===(other : JSON::Any)
===(other : YAML::Any)
===(other) ===, =~(other) =~, __crystal_pseudo_! : Bool __crystal_pseudo_!, __crystal_pseudo_as(type : Class) __crystal_pseudo_as, __crystal_pseudo_as?(type : Class) __crystal_pseudo_as?, __crystal_pseudo_is_a?(type : Class) : Bool __crystal_pseudo_is_a?, __crystal_pseudo_nil? : Bool __crystal_pseudo_nil?, __crystal_pseudo_responds_to?(name : Symbol) : Bool __crystal_pseudo_responds_to?, class class, dup dup, hash(hasher)
hash hash, inspect : String
inspect(io : IO) : Nil inspect, itself itself, not_nil! not_nil!, pretty_inspect(width = 79, newline = "\n", indent = 0) : String pretty_inspect, pretty_print(pp : PrettyPrint) : Nil pretty_print, tap(&) tap, to_json(io : IO)
to_json to_json, to_pretty_json(indent : String = " ")
to_pretty_json(io : IO, indent : String = " ") to_pretty_json, to_s : String
to_s(io : IO) : Nil to_s, to_yaml(io : IO)
to_yaml to_yaml, try(&) try, unsafe_as(type : T.class) forall T unsafe_as

### Class methods inherited from class `Object`

from_json(string_or_io, root : String)
from_json(string_or_io) from_json, from_yaml(string_or_io : String | IO) from_yaml

##
Constructor Detail

def self.cast(other) : self #

Casts other to this class.

This is the same as using `as`, but allows the class to be passed around as an argument. See the documentation on as for more information.

    klass = Int32
    number = [99, "str"][0]
    typeof(number)             # => (String | Int32)
    typeof(klass.cast(number)) # => Int32

##
Class Method Detail

def self.<(other : T.class) : Bool forall T #

Returns whether this class inherits or includes other.

    Int32 < Number  # => true
    Int32 < Value   # => true
    Int32 < Int32   # => false
    Int32 <= String # => false

def self.<=(other : T.class) : Bool forall T #

Returns whether this class inherits or includes other, or is equal to other.

    Int32 < Number  # => true
    Int32 < Value   # => true
    Int32 <= Int32  # => true
    Int32 <= String # => false

def self.==(other : Class) : Bool #

Returns whether this class is the same as other.

    Int32 == Int32  # => true
    Int32 == String # => false

def self.===(other) #
Description copied from class Object

Case equality.

The `#===` method is used in a `case ... when ... end` expression.

For example, this code:

    case value
    when x
      # something when x
    when y
      # something when y
    end

Is equivalent to this code:

    if x === value
      # something when x
    elsif y === value
      # something when y
    end

Object simply implements `#===` by invoking `#==`, but subclasses (notably `Regex`) can override it to provide meaningful case-equality semantics.

def self.>(other : T.class) forall T #

Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`.

    Number > Int32  # => true
    Number > Number # => false
    Number > Object # => false

def self.>=(other : T.class) forall T #

Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`, or is equal to `self`.

    Number >= Int32  # => true
    Number >= Number # => true
    Number >= Object # => false

def self.clone #
def self.dup #
Description copied from struct Value

Returns a shallow copy of this object.

Because `Value` is a value type, this method returns `self`, which already involves a shallow copy of this object because value types are passed by value.

def self.hash(hasher) #

See `Object#hash(hasher)`

def self.inspect(io : IO) : Nil #
Description copied from class Object

Appends a string representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

Similar to `#to_s(io)`, but usually appends more information about this object. See `#inspect`.

def self.name : String #

Returns the name of this class.

    String.name # => "String"

def self.nilable? #

Returns `true` if this class is `Nil`.

    Int32.nilable? # => false
    Nil.nilable?   # => true

def self.to_s(io : IO) : Nil #
Description copied from class Object

Appends a `String` representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

An object must never append itself to the io argument, as this will in turn call `#to_s(io)` on it.

def self.|(other : U.class) forall U #

Returns the union type of `self` and other.

    Int32 | Char # => (Int32 | Char)

##
Instance Method Detail

def <(other : T.class) : Bool forall T #

Returns whether this class inherits or includes other.

    Int32 < Number  # => true
    Int32 < Value   # => true
    Int32 < Int32   # => false
    Int32 <= String # => false

def <=(other : T.class) : Bool forall T #

Returns whether this class inherits or includes other, or is equal to other.

    Int32 < Number  # => true
    Int32 < Value   # => true
    Int32 <= Int32  # => true
    Int32 <= String # => false

def ==(other : Class) : Bool #

Returns whether this class is the same as other.

    Int32 == Int32  # => true
    Int32 == String # => false

def ===(other) #
Description copied from class Object

Case equality.

The `#===` method is used in a `case ... when ... end` expression.

For example, this code:

    case value
    when x
      # something when x
    when y
      # something when y
    end

Is equivalent to this code:

    if x === value
      # something when x
    elsif y === value
      # something when y
    end

Object simply implements `#===` by invoking `#==`, but subclasses (notably `Regex`) can override it to provide meaningful case-equality semantics.

def >(other : T.class) forall T #

Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`.

    Number > Int32  # => true
    Number > Number # => false
    Number > Object # => false

def >=(other : T.class) forall T #

Returns whether other inherits or includes `self`, or is equal to `self`.

    Number >= Int32  # => true
    Number >= Number # => true
    Number >= Object # => false

def cast(other) : self #

Casts other to this class.

This is the same as using `as`, but allows the class to be passed around as an argument. See the documentation on as for more information.

    klass = Int32
    number = [99, "str"][0]
    typeof(number)             # => (String | Int32)
    typeof(klass.cast(number)) # => Int32

def clone #
def dup #
Description copied from struct Value

Returns a shallow copy of this object.

Because `Value` is a value type, this method returns `self`, which already involves a shallow copy of this object because value types are passed by value.

def hash(hasher) #

See `Object#hash(hasher)`

def inspect(io : IO) : Nil #
Description copied from class Object

Appends a string representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

Similar to `#to_s(io)`, but usually appends more information about this object. See `#inspect`.

def name : String #

Returns the name of this class.

    String.name # => "String"

def nilable? #

Returns `true` if this class is `Nil`.

    Int32.nilable? # => false
    Nil.nilable?   # => true

def to_s(io : IO) : Nil #
Description copied from class Object

Appends a `String` representation of this object to the given `IO` object.

An object must never append itself to the io argument, as this will in turn call `#to_s(io)` on it.

def |(other : U.class) forall U #

Returns the union type of `self` and other.

    Int32 | Char # => (Int32 | Char)