Public, Protected and Private Inheritance in C++ Programming

In C++ inheritance, we can get a child class from the base class in various
access modes. For instance,

class Base {

.... ... ....

};

class Derived : public Base {

.... ... ....

};

Notice the keyword public in the code

class Derived : public Base

This implies we have made a gotten class from the base class in public
mode. On the other hand, we can likewise infer classes
in protected or private modes.
These 3 keywords (public, protected, and private) are known as access
specifiers in C++ inheritance.

public, protected, and private

inheritance in C++
public, protected, and private inheritance have the following features:
  public inheritance makes public members of the base class public in
the derived class, and the protected members of the base class remain
protected in the derived class.
 protected inheritance makes the public and protected members of the
base class protected in the derived class.
 private inheritance makes the public and protected members of the
base class private in the derived class.

Note: private members of the base class are inaccessible to the derived
class.

class Base {

public:

int x;

protected:

int y;

private:

int z;

};

class PublicDerived: public Base {

// x is public

// y is protected

// z is not accessible from PublicDerived

};
class ProtectedDerived: protected Base {

// x is protected

// y is protected

// z is not accessible from ProtectedDerived

};

class PrivateDerived: private Base {

// x is private

// y is private

// z is not accessible from PrivateDerived

Example 1: C++ public Inheritance

// C++ program to demonstrate the working of public inheritance

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class Base {

private:

int pvt = 1;

protected:

int prot = 2;

public:

int pub = 3;

// function to access private member

int getPVT() {

return pvt;

};

class PublicDerived : public Base {

public:
 // function to access protected member from Base

int getProt() {

return prot;

};

int main() {

PublicDerived object1;

cout << "Private = " << object1.getPVT() << endl;

cout << "Protected = " << object1.getProt() << endl;

cout << "Public = " << object1.pub << endl;

return 0;

Output

Private = 1

Protected = 2

Public = 3

Here, we have derived PublicDerived from Base in public mode.

As a result, in PublicDerived:
prot is inherited as protected.
pub and getPVT() are inherited as public.
pvt is inaccessible since it is private in Base.
Since private and protected members are not accessible, we need to create
public functions getPVT() and getProt() to access them:

// Error: member "Base::pvt" is inaccessible

cout << "Private = " << object1.pvt;

// Error: member "Base::prot" is inaccessible

cout << "Protected = " << object1.prot;

Accessibility in Public Inheritance

Accessibility private members protected members public members

Base Class Yes Yes Yes

Derived Class No Yes Yes

Example 2: C++ protected

Inheritance
// C++ program to demonstrate the working of protected inheritance
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class Base {

private:

int pvt = 1;

protected:

int prot = 2;

public:

int pub = 3;

// function to access private member

int getPVT() {

return pvt;

};
class ProtectedDerived : protected Base {

public:

// function to access protected member from Base

int getProt() {

return prot;

// function to access public member from Base

int getPub() {

return pub;

};

int main() {

ProtectedDerived object1;

cout << "Private cannot be accessed." << endl;

cout << "Protected = " << object1.getProt() << endl;

cout << "Public = " << object1.getPub() << endl;

return 0;
}

Output

Private cannot be accessed.

Protected = 2

Public = 3

Here, we have derived ProtectedDerived from Base in protected mode.

As a result, in ProtectedDerived:
prot, pub and getPVT() are inherited as protected.
pvt is inaccessible since it is private in Base.
As we know, protected members cannot be accessed directly.
As a result, we cannot use getPVT() from ProtectedDerived. That is also why
we need to create the getPub() function in ProtectedDerived in order to
access the pub variable.

// Error: member "Base::getPVT()" is inaccessible

cout << "Private = " << object1.getPVT();

// Error: member "Base::pub" is inaccessible

cout << "Public = " << object1.pub;

Accessibility in Protected Inheritance

Accessibility private members protected members public members

Base Class Yes Yes Yes

Derived Class No Yes Yes (inherited as protected variables)

Example 3: C++ private Inheritance

// C++ program to demonstrate the working of private inheritance

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class Base {

private:

int pvt = 1;

protected:

int prot = 2;

public:
 int pub = 3;

// function to access private member

int getPVT() {

return pvt;

};

class PrivateDerived : private Base {

public:

// function to access protected member from Base

int getProt() {

return prot;

// function to access private member

int getPub() {

return pub;

}
};

int main() {

PrivateDerived object1;

cout << "Private cannot be accessed." << endl;

cout << "Protected = " << object1.getProt() << endl;

cout << "Public = " << object1.getPub() << endl;

return 0;

Output

Private cannot be accessed.

Protected = 2

Public = 3

Here, we have derived PrivateDerived from Base in private mode.

As a result, in PrivateDerived:
prot, pub and getPVT() are inherited as private.
pvt is inaccessible since it is private in Base.
As we probably am aware, private members can’t be gotten to
straightforwardly.
Thus, we can’t use getPVT() from PrivateDerived. That is likewise why we
have to make the getPub() work in PrivateDerived so as to get to the pub
variable.

// Error: member "Base::getPVT()" is inaccessible

cout << "Private = " << object1.getPVT();

// Error: member "Base::pub" is inaccessible

cout << "Public = " << object1.pub;

Accessibility in Private Inheritance

private
Accessibility protected members public members
members

Base Class Yes Yes Yes

Derived Yes (inherited as private Yes (inherited as private

No
Class variables) variables)

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