When writing a traditional OOP package, do private functions need to be part of the object?

By that, I mean, accessors tend to look like

    sub happy_birthday {
        my $self = shift;
        return $self->age( $self->age() + 1 );
    }

[download]

(it's that there "my $self = shift;" bit I am looking at with a jaundiced eye)

If an accessor wants to use a private function (say, _topsecretsort() ), are there any pros and cons or conventions in just making it an "ordinary" function, or should it be a method, as per the accessor methods>

I can't seem to find anything on this... everyone seems to do one or the other. Is there a perceived general rule of thumb for said private functions?

Thanks!

In reply to OOP private functions by zeltus

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