From: James Edward Gray II <james@...>
Date: 2005-10-27T04:38:36+09:00
Subject: Re: how private is private in ruby?

On Oct 26, 2005, at 2:32 PM, Peter Ertl wrote:

> Why is this allowed / possible?
>
> class MyUltraSecretKeystore
>   private
>   def key
>     return "nobody-should-read-this-ever"
>   end
> end
>
> ks = MyUltraSecretKeystore.new
>
> $ puts ks.send(:key)
>
>> "nobody-should-read-this-ever"
>>
>
> *yuk*
>
> so I can just use [public] for _everything_ as well, right?

It's true that there are many ways to bypass method scope.  Ruby  
trusts us to do the right thing. We consider things like send() and  
instance_eval() to be tools.  They are perhaps dangerous at times,  
but they are also very powerful.  It's a trade-off.

If you're looking for iron-clad laws, Ruby's dynamic nature will  
probably not appeal to you much.

James Edward Gray II