public_send_vs_send

🔒 Choosing public_send over send for Safer Metaprogramming

While send lets you call any method (public, protected, or private), public_send restricts calls to public methods, reducing the risk of unintentionally bypassing encapsulation. Prefer public_send when you don't need to access private methods.

class Secret
  def public_method
    'public'
  end
  private
def private_method
    'secret'
  end
end

obj = Secret.new
obj.public_send(:public_method)   #=> "public"
obj.public_send(:private_method)  #=> NoMethodError
obj.send(:private_method)         #=> "secret"  # Avoid unless necessary