How to reference global variables and class variables?

Global scope is scope that covers the entire program. Global scope is enjoyed by global variables, which are recognizable by their initial dollar-sign ($) character. They’re available everywhere and creating your own global variables can be tempting, especially for beginning programmers. But they’re not always a good idea.

$gvar = "I'm a global!"
class C
    def examine_global
        puts $gvar
    end
end

c = C.new
c.examine_global # I'm a global!

Class variables begin with two at signs: @@var, for example. Despite their name, class variables aren’t class scoped. Rather, they’re class-hierarchy scoped. At its simplest, the idea behind a class variable is that it provides a storage mechanism that’s shared between a class and instances of that class, and that’s not visible to any other objects.

class Parent
    @@value = 100
end

class Child < Parent
    @@value = 200
end

class Parent
    puts @@value
end

What gets printed is 200. The Child class is a subclass of Parent, and that means Parent and Child share the same class variables—not different class variables with the same names, but the same actual variables. When you assign to @@value in Child, you’re setting the one and only @@value variable that’s shared throughout the hierarchy—
that is, by Parent and Child and any other descendant classes of either of them.

And to give credit where its due – This explanation comes from “The Well Grounded Rubyist” by David A Black, one of the best resources to learn about Ruby.