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Asked: 2026-05-11T10:11:56+00:00

class MySymbol TABLE={} def initialize(str) @str = str end def to_s() @str end def

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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?

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1 Answer

  1. 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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