Question

module Hints
    module Designer
        def self.message
            "Hello, World!"
        end
    end
end

is there any way to use the following code to access the message method?

p Hints.Designer.message

Instead of

p Hints::Designer.message

Answer 1

The period . is only meant for accessing methods.

The double colon :: is used to indicate namespaces.

Both modules and classes can be nested in each other. This creates a namespace for the nested class. (Technically, Module is an instance of Class.) Thus, the following is correct no matter if Hints or Designer are a class or a module.

Hints::Designer.message

You can try yourself by opening irb on the command line. Hints.Designer.message says NoMethodError: undefined method 'Designer' for Hints:Module.

Update (as I am not allowed to comment…):

While many things in Ruby can be overwritten (“monkey patched”), basic operators cannot. :: is a basic language feature that is and should not be customizable (in order to prevent a big mess ;)).