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Access Specifier
(Public, Private and Protected)
Now before studying how to define class and its objects, let’s first quickly learn what
access are specifier. Access specifier in C++ class defines the access control rules.
C++ has 3 new keywords introduced, namely,
1. public
2. private
3. protected
Syntax:
class base
{
.... ... ....
};
class derived : access_specifier base
{
.... ... ....
};
Things to remember while Using Public, Protected and Private
Inheritance
1. Protected and public members (data and function) of a base class are
accessible from a derived class (for all three: public, protected and private
inheritance).
2. Objects of derived class with private and protected inheritance cannot
access any data member of a base class.
3. Objects of derived class with public inheritance can access only public
member of a base class.
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These access specifiers are used to set boundaries for availability of members of
class be it data members or member functions. Access specifiers in the program, are
followed by a colon. You can use either one, two or all 3 specifiers in the same class
to set different boundaries for different class members. They change the boundary
for all the declarations that follow them.
PUBLIC:
Public, means all the class members declared under public will be available to
everyone. The data members and member functions declared public can be accessed
by other classes too. Hence there are chances that they might change them. So the
key members must not be declared public. A public member is accessible from
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anywhere outside the class but within a program. You can set and get the value of
public variables without any member function.
Syntax:
class Public Access
{
public: // public access specifier
int x; // Data Member Declaration
void display(); // Member Function declaration
}
PRIVATE:
Private keyword, means that no one can access the class members declared private
outside that class. If someone tries to access the private member, they will get a
compile time error. By default class variables and member functions are private.
Syntax:
class PrivateAccess
{
private: // private access specifier
int x; // Data Member Declaration
void display(); // Member Function declaration
}
A private member variable or function cannot be accessed, or even viewed from o
utside the class. Only the class and friend functions can access private members.
By default all the members of a class would be private, for example in the followin
g class width is a private member, which means until you label a member, and it w
ill be assumed a private member:
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class Box
{
double width;
public:
double length;
void setWidth ( double wid );
double getWidth ( void );
};
PROTECTED:
Protected, is the last access specifier, and it is similar to private, it makes class
member inaccessible outside the class. But they can be accessed by any subclass of
that class. (If class A is inherited by class B, then class B is subclass of class A. We
will learn this later.)
A protected member variable or function is very similar to a private member but it
provided one additional benefit that they can be accessed in child classes which are
called derived classes.
Syntax:
class ProtectedAccess
{
protected: // protected access specifier
int x; // Data Member Declaration
void display(); // Member Function declaration
}
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Summary of Public, Protected and Private Inheritance
Accessibility in Public Inheritance
Accessibility private protected public
Accessible from own class? yes yes yes
Accessible from derived class? no yes yes
Accessible outside derived class? no no yes
Accessibility in Protected Inheritance
Accessibility private protected public
Accessible from own class? yes yes yes
Accessible from derived class? no yes yes
Accessible outside derived class? no no no
Accessibility in Private Inheritance
Accessibility private protected public
Accessible from own class? yes yes yes
Accessible from derived class? no yes yes
Accessible outside derived class? no no no
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