From: GOTO Kentaro <gotoken@...>
Date: 2002-09-14T07:04:36+09:00
Subject: Re: private variables

At Sat, 14 Sep 2002 06:22:55 +0900,
William Djaja Tjokroaminata wrote:

> Wait, wait, wait... I think someone should really have defined what
> private variables in Ruby really are.
> 
> Using C++ terminology, I think the private variables in Ruby are really
> like C++ "private" variables.  In the current Ruby, instance variables are
> always "protected", and they can only be made "public" by the accessor
> functions.

Maybe the subject "private variable" is confusing.  In Ruby, the
concept of "private" means "cannot be omitted its receiver".  But
there doesn't exist receiver of a variable.  In this sense, variable
is already "private". 

So, I'd like to propose new name
  "nestable local variable" and "noninheritable instance variable" 
to avoid confusion.

-- Gotoken