Instance variable creation

Question

What is the purpose/meaning of the second line in the code below? @age = 0

I don't understand why there is an instance variable @name declared inside the class but outside the method. What does this create? what is its scope and use?

class Animal
@age = 0
def initialize(name, age)
@name = name
@age = age
end
end

Answer 1

I think it sets an atribute age that is equal to 0 for every member of the class Animal and by adding @age=age you're saying that age can be different from 0 if specified (I quite forgot Ruby oop but this is what I think it is...)

Answer 2

This is an excellent question. Give me a few minutes to reply with a response that will hopefully be short and clear.