Search code examples
rubymethodssend

What is the point of using "send" instead of a normal method call?

as far as I understand 'send' method, this 

some_object.some_method("im an argument")

is same as this

some_object.send :some_method, "im an argument"

So what is the point using 'send' method?

Solution

  • It can come in handy if you don't know in advance the name of the method, when you're doing metaprogramming for example, you can have the name of the method in a variable and pass it to the send method.

    It can also be used to call private methods, although this particular usage is not considered to be a good practice by most Ruby developers.

    class Test
  private
  def my_private_method
    puts "Yay"
  end
end

t = Test.new

t.my_private_method # Error

t.send :my_private_method #Ok

    You can use public_send though to only be able to call public methods.