instance method

Class#superclass

() -> ::Class?

class.superclass → a_super_class or nil

VALUE
rb_class_superclass(VALUE klass)
{
    RUBY_ASSERT(RB_TYPE_P(klass, T_CLASS));

    VALUE *superclasses = RCLASS_SUPERCLASSES(klass);
    size_t superclasses_depth = RCLASS_SUPERCLASS_DEPTH(klass);

    if (klass == rb_cBasicObject) return Qnil;

    if (!superclasses) {
        RUBY_ASSERT(!RCLASS_SUPER(klass));
        rb_raise(rb_eTypeError, "uninitialized class");
    }

    if (!superclasses_depth) {
        return Qnil;
    }
    else {
        VALUE super = superclasses[superclasses_depth - 1];
        RUBY_ASSERT(RB_TYPE_P(super, T_CLASS));
        return super;
    }
}

Returns the superclass of class, or nil.

Example

File.superclass          #=> IO
IO.superclass            #=> Object
Object.superclass        #=> BasicObject
class Foo; end
class Bar < Foo; end
Bar.superclass           #=> Foo

Returns nil when the given class does not have a parent class:

Example

BasicObject.superclass   #=> nil

See also #subclasses #new also in 4.1 · 3.4 · 3.3 · 3.2 · 3.1 · 3.0

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