I think privateing modules will be a cure worse than the disease.
- It breaks the semantics of the language.
defp(an alias for defprivate) doesn’t allow access to functions outside the module, butdefmodulepallows explicit visibility to some modules. Another naming is required. - I think that we should use an annotation, such as:
@visible_to: [Foobar]or@scoped_to: [Bar]instead (maybe other names), to tag that this module is not for public usage. This should solve (1). - Although already a rejected idea, what we want to do is to guarantee that private modules are not accessible outside the application/package/library/younameit they are included, which is exactly what we are trying to do here.
Given my ideas, commenting on the proposals:
A. I like this idea, but with another name: @visible_to [MyApp, Foo, ...]. And if any module not in that list tries to use, import or whatever it will be a compilation error, much like what happens when you try to call a defp function outside the module you are defining it.
B, C & D. No because of breaking semantics: explained in (1).
