Kristen,
I think that the statement, "Instance variables only last till the
end of the method" is incorrect. Instance variables live as long as
their containing object lives. So, the Cart object has an instance
variable (an array) called @items. If your statement were true, there
would be no point in adding anything to it because @items would
disappear before anything useful can be done.
Here's what's going on starting with store_controller#add_to_cart:
1. You're creating a Cart object as a result of a find from the
database and calling it @cart.
2. Next, a Product object is created as a result of a find from the
database using an id parameter from the request. It's only a local
variable and it's called product.
3. The product is added to the @cart.
4. The controller method ends. By default, Rails looks for a .rhtml
file called /app/views/<controller>/<action>. By convention, store is
the controller name, and add_to_cart is the action name.
5. Presumably, you want to show what's in the cart in the view.
That's one reason why you're using an instance variable-- to make it
visible to the view. The local variable, product, is not available to
the view.
Hope it helps,
-Anthony
