Why is this publicly accessible in my example: “MySymbol::TABLE”
Question
class MySymbol
TABLE={}
def initialize(str) @str = str end
def to_s() @str end
def ==(other)
self.object_id == other.object_id
end
end
class String
def my_intern
table = MySymbol::TABLE
unless table.has_key?(self)
table[self] = MySymbol.new(self)
end
table[self]
end
end
"foo".my_intern
In the example above, which I found on a blog, I understand that TABLE is a hash and is a member of the MySymbol class. What I don't understand is how it can be accessed publicly from inside the String class. I thought class instance variables are private by default and you need to use get/set methods to access them from outside the class?
Solution
In your example, TABLE
is a constant, not an instance (or class) variable (i.e. not prefixed wit @
.)
Also, instance variables are not "private by default" (e.g. as is the case with C++ classes), although it may superficially look that way; they are simply not accessible outside the class by design, not because they are "private" (you cannot make them "non-private".)
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