Don't the Ruby methods instance_eval() and send() negate the benefits of private visibility?

Question

w = Widget.new # Create a Widget
w.send :utility_method # Invoke private method!
w.instance_eval { utility_method } # Another way to invoke it
w.instance_eval { @x } # R         


        

Answer 1

At the very least you express what the public API of the Widget class is.