From: Matt Bleh <phreakuencies@...>
Date: 2009-12-11T06:01:00+09:00
Subject: "private" modules

Hi,
I'm writing a ruby library, under a module named "A". Since I provide
classes which share names with standard ruby classes (like Vector), this
way I avoid namespace pollution when requiring my library.
The problem is that I have an inner ("private") module "B", defined
under "A" where I have a bunch of methods defined that these classes
will use (I'm using RubyFFI).

But, since (as a user of my library) I would want to "include A" to
avoid the A:: prefix everywhere, the inner module "B" would be exposed
to the top-level.
I don't think it may be really problematic, but I think it may be a
common issue that others may face.

An example:

module A
  # I provide a nice Vector implementation, to replace Ruby's
  class Vector
    def func
      # ...
      B::c_library_func(p)
      # ...
    end
  end

  module B
    extend FFI::Library
    attach_function :c_library_func, [ :pointer ], :void
    # and continues...
  end
end

If I do:
include A
Now B is visible to the user, and it may end-up clashing with something
else.

Is there a guideline for these cases?

Thank you
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