NameError: uninitialized constant error - ruby

Question

Given the following code:
module Backup
module Destination
class Base
def initialize
puts 'Base'
end
end
end
end
module Backup
module Destination
class Test < Base
def initialize
puts 'Test'
super
end
end
end
end
Backup::Destination::Test.new
This works as expected, outputting:
Test
Base
However if I split things up like this:
# lib/backup.rb
require_relative 'backup/destination/base'
module Backup; end
# lib/backup/destination/base.rb
require_relative 'test'
module Backup
module Destination
class Base
def initialize
puts 'Base'
end
end
end
end
# lib/backup/destination/test.rb
module Backup
module Destination
class Test < Base
def initialize
puts 'Test'
super
end
end
end
end
And execute with the following (from irb):
require_relative 'lib/backup'
I get this error:
NameError: uninitialized constant Backup::Destination::Base
from /lib/backup/destination/test.rb:3:in `<module:Destination>'
from /lib/backup/destination/test.rb:2:in `<module:Backup>'
from /lib/backup/destination/test.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from /lib/backup/destination/base.rb:1:in `require_relative'
from /lib/backup/destination/base.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from /lib/backup.rb:1:in `require_relative'
from /lib/backup.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
from (irb):1:in `require_relative'
What am I missing?
Note: I couldn't post the above without adding more details. Stupid feature because in this case code is worth a thousand words. (this text allowed the question to be posted)

Answer 1

The problem is that you are requiring test.rb before your Base class is defined. One possible solution is to move your require to the bottom of base.rb.
Another possible solution is to remove your require from base and require both files in the correct order from backup.

Answer 2

Made the following changes to fix the problem:
# lib/backup.rb
require_relative 'backup/destination/base'
require_relative 'backup/destination/test'
module Backup; end
And removed the require_relative statement from lib/backup/destination/base.rb. This fixed the order of the require_relative statements. I mistakenly thought the files were required before anything was executed.