Sample code to show alias and alias_method is working in Ruby. The related blogpost can be found here: http://goo.gl/4dhVy

alias.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
class NoAlias
  def nice_method
    puts 'I am the nice method'
  end

  def even_nicer_method
    puts 'I am the even nicer method'
  end

end

class AliasMethod
  def even_nicer_method
    puts 'AliasMethod::even_nicer_method called'
  end

  alias_method :nice_method, :even_nicer_method
end

class Alias
  def even_nicer_method
    puts 'Alias::even_nicer_method called'
  end

  alias :nice_method :even_nicer_method
end

class Mother
  def say_name
    puts 'I am the Mother'
  end

  alias :name :say_name
end

class Child < Mother
  def say_name
    puts 'I am the Child'
  end
end

class MotherScope
  def say_name
    puts 'I am the Mother'
  end

  def self.my_name
    #alias :name :say_name
    alias_method :name, :say_name
  end
end

class ChildScope < MotherScope
  def say_name
    puts 'I am the Child'
  end
  my_name
end

puts 'Example without alias'
NoAlias.new.nice_method
NoAlias.new.even_nicer_method

puts
puts 'Example with usage of alias_method'
AliasMethod.new.nice_method

puts
puts 'Example with the usage of alias'
Alias.new.nice_method

puts
puts 'Example for inheritance'
Child.new.name

puts
puts 'Example for class methods in inheritance (scope!)'
ChildScope.new.name