> I've always heard 'accessor' refers to a get_prop method and 'assigner' > refers to a set_prop method. Does accessor refer to both in Ruby? Yes, becuase of the common convenience method: attr_accessor :a which creates both a "reader" and a "writer", which are the terms Ruby generally uses. What I mean by *convenience* method is that the above is simply a shortcut for doing: def a @a end def a=(x) @a = x end And is the same as doing attr_reader :a attr_writer :a T.