title: What is scope/named_scope in rails?
body: <p>I've recently started an internship. My employer uses ruby on rails, and I frequently encounter new syntax that I need to look up to understand. I've googled around for a good explanation of named_scope, but what I've found so far is mostly blog posts giving high praise for it, rather a straight definition or introduction.</p>
  
  <p>What exactly is named_scope (now simply called scope) in ruby on rails?</p>