Access Modifiers in java
There are two types of modifiers in java: access modifiers and non-access modifiers.
The access modifiers in java specifies accessibility (scope) of a data member, method,
constructor or class.
There are 4 types of java access modifiers:
1 private
2 default
3 protected
4 public
There are many non-access modifiers such as static, abstract, synchronized, native, volatile,
transient etc. Here, we will learn access modifiers.
1) private access modifier
The private access modifier is accessible only within
class.
Simple example of private access modifier
In this example, we have created two classes A and Simple. A class contains private
data member and private method. We are accessing these private members from
outside the class, so there is compile time error.
class A{
private int data=40;
private void msg(){System.out.println("Hello java");}
public class Simple{
public static void main(String args[]){
A obj=new A();
System.out.println(obj.data);//Compile Time Error
obj.msg();//Compile Time Error
}
Role of Private Constructor
If you make any class constructor private, you cannot create the instance of that class
from outside the class. For example:
class A{
private A(){}//private constructor
void msg(){System.out.println("Hello java");}
public class Simple{
public static void main(String args[]){
A obj=new A();//Compile Time Error
Note: A class cannot be private or protected except nested class.
2) default access modifier
If you don't use any modifier, it is treated as default bydefault. The default modifier is
accessible only within package.
Example of default access modifier
In this example, we have created two packages pack and mypack. We are accessing
the A class from outside its package, since A class is not public, so it cannot be
accessed from outside the package.
//save by A.java
package pack;
class A{
void msg(){System.out.println("Hello");}
}
//save by B.java
package mypack;
import pack.*;
class B{
public static void main(String args[]){
A obj = new A();//Compile Time Error
obj.msg();//Compile Time Error
}
In the above example, the scope of class A and its method msg() is default so it cannot be
accessed from outside the package.
3) protected access modifier
The protected access modifier is accessible within package and outside the package but
through inheritance only.
The protected access modifier can be applied on the data member, method and constructor.
It can't be applied on the class.
Example of protected access modifier
In this example, we have created the two packages pack and mypack. The A class of pack
package is public, so can be accessed from outside the package. But msg method of this
package is declared as protected, so it can be accessed from outside the class only through
inheritance.
//save by A.java
package pack;
public class A{
protected void msg(){System.out.println("Hello");}
//save by B.java
package mypack;
import pack.*;
class B extends A{
public static void main(String args[]){
B obj = new B();
obj.msg();
}
Output:Hello
4) public access modifier
The public access modifier is accessible everywhere. It has the widest scope among
all other modifiers.
Example of public access modifier
//save by A.java
package pack;
public class A{
public void msg(){System.out.println("Hello");}
//save by B.java
package mypack;
import pack.*;
class B{
public static void main(String args[]){
A obj = new A();
obj.msg();
}
Output:Hello
Understanding all java access modifiers
Let's understand the access modifiers by a simple table.
Access within within outside package by outside
Modifier class package subclass only package
Private Y N N N
Default Y Y N N
Protecte Y Y Y N
d
Public Y Y Y Y
Java access modifiers with method overriding
If you are overriding any method, overridden method (i.e. declared in subclass) must not be
more restrictive.
class A{
protected void msg(){System.out.println("Hello java");}
public class Simple extends A{
void msg(){System.out.println("Hello java");}//C.T.Error
public static void main(String args[]){
Simple obj=new Simple();
obj.msg();
}
The default modifier is more restrictive than protected. That is why there is compile
time error.
