Crystal: Calling a protected method outside of module doesn't produce an error when you include that module in the same file

[exts]

So I came across an issue when I was working on some api code and realized I could call a protected method outside of a module even though the docs doesn't specify this is possible.

Example:

module Root
  class Test1
      protected def hello
          puts "world"
      end
  end
end

include Root

test = Test1.new
test.hello

Outputs "world" live example here

Expected behavior: When I call a protected method outside of a module it should spit out "protected method called" error. The default functionality based on the docs should still allow access to protected methods when called inside a module's scope.

Actual behavior: No error is called when I call a protected method outside of a module scope. It seems as if when I include the Root module above it puts the whole file inside that scope? I could be wrong, but that's just a guestimate.

Other: Someone ran a similar test in ruby and it has the desired effect

○ ruby test.rb test.rb:12:in `<main>': protected method `hello' called for #<Root::Test1:0x007fd8700457e0> (NoMethodError)`

[asterite]

According to the docs:

A protected method can only be invoked on:

1. instances of the same type as the current type
2. instances in the same namespace (class, struct, module, etc.) as the current type

When you include it in the top-level, it is now in the same namespace as it.

This is different than Ruby, but then again Crystal is not Ruby :-)

[exts]

So it does make the whole file the top level once included, that seems kind of odd though.

I guess my question now is why use protected methods at all if they are that easy to get access to? In a top level file.

[asterite]

Just don't include types in the top-level. Antyhing that's global is a bad smell.

[exts]

Still doesn't answer my question, what's the point of protected methods in crystal in comparison to other languages.