@JRubyMethod(optional = 2, visibility = PRIVATE)
  @Override
  public IRubyObject initialize(IRubyObject[] args, Block unusedBlock) {
    Object modeArgument = null;
    Ruby runtime = getRuntime();

    switch (args.length) {
      case 0:
        data.internal =
            runtime.is1_9()
                ? RubyString.newEmptyString(runtime, runtime.getDefaultExternalEncoding())
                : RubyString.newEmptyString(getRuntime());
        modeArgument = "r+";
        break;
      case 1:
        data.internal = args[0].convertToString();
        modeArgument = data.internal.isFrozen() ? "r" : "r+";
        break;
      case 2:
        data.internal = args[0].convertToString();
        if (args[1] instanceof RubyFixnum) {
          modeArgument = RubyFixnum.fix2long(args[1]);
        } else {
          modeArgument = args[1].convertToString().toString();
        }
        break;
    }

    initializeModes(modeArgument);

    if (data.modes.isWritable() && data.internal.isFrozen()) {
      throw getRuntime().newErrnoEACCESError("Permission denied");
    }

    if (data.modes.isTruncate()) {
      data.internal.modifyCheck();
      data.internal.empty();
    }

    return this;
  }