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Session 9

Access specifiers in C++ define how class members can be accessed, with three types: public, private, and protected. Public members can be accessed from outside the class, while private members cannot, and protected members can be accessed in inherited classes. It is recommended to declare class attributes as private to enhance encapsulation and reduce potential errors.

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10 views2 pages

Session 9

Access specifiers in C++ define how class members can be accessed, with three types: public, private, and protected. Public members can be accessed from outside the class, while private members cannot, and protected members can be accessed in inherited classes. It is recommended to declare class attributes as private to enhance encapsulation and reduce potential errors.

Uploaded by

santosh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Access Specifiers

By now, you are quite familiar with the public keyword that appears
in all of our class examples:

Example
class MyClass { // The class
public: // Access specifier
// class members goes here
};
The public keyword is an access specifier. Access specifiers
define how the members (attributes and methods) of a class can
be accessed. In the example above, the members are
public - which means that they can be accessed and modified from
outside the code.

However, what if we want members to be private and hidden from the


outside world?

In C++, there are three access specifiers:

public - members are accessible from outside the class


private - members cannot be accessed (or viewed) from outside the
class
protected - members cannot be accessed from outside the class,
however, they can be accessed in inherited classes.
You will learn more about Inheritance later.
In the following example, we demonstrate the differences
between public and private members:

Example
class MyClass {
public: // Public access specifier
int x; // Public attribute
private: // Private access specifier
int y; // Private attribute
};

int main() {
MyClass myObj;
myObj.x = 25; // Allowed (public)
myObj.y = 50; // Not allowed (private)
return 0;
}
If you try to access a private member, an error occurs:

error: y is private
Note: It is possible to access private members of a class
using a public method inside the same class.
See the next chapter (Encapsulation) on how to do this.

Tip: It is considered good practice to declare your class


attributes as private (as often as you can). This will reduce
the possibility of yourself (or others) to mess up the code.
This is also the main ingredient of the Encapsulation concept,
which you will learn more about in the next chapter.

Note: By default, all members of a class are private if you don't


specify an access specifier:
Example
class MyClass {
int x; // Private attribute
int y; // Private attribute
};

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