Include a module with or without send, is there any difference?

SomeClass.include(SomeModule)

vs.

SomeClass.send :include, SomeMo开发者_JAVA百科dule

Is there any differences between them? Why is the second way preferred? (At least I've found it more frequently in other people's code).

They are almost identical.

The difference is that if SomeClass#include is private, the latter will still be able to call it due to the nature of Object#send

If SomeClass#include was private and you went with the former, it would raise an error.

So the advantage of using the latter is that you can include a module no matter what the visibility is. (Whether or not you actually believe accessing private methods is the "right" thing to do is another story. It certainly gives you tremendous power).

You can re-open an existing class:

class SomeClass
  include SomeModule
end