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Lecture 2 - Access Modifiers

Access modifiers in C++ determine the visibility of class members, with three main types: public, private, and protected. Public members are accessible from anywhere, private members are restricted to the class itself, and protected members can be accessed by derived classes. The default access level for classes is private, while for structs it is public.

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6 views8 pages

Lecture 2 - Access Modifiers

Access modifiers in C++ determine the visibility of class members, with three main types: public, private, and protected. Public members are accessible from anywhere, private members are restricted to the class itself, and protected members can be accessed by derived classes. The default access level for classes is private, while for structs it is public.

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zahoor.ahmad.umt.se
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Access Modifiers

In C++, access modifiers are used to specify the visibility and accessibility of class members (variables and
methods). There are three main access modifiers in C++:
1. public

Members declared as public can be accessed from anywhere, both inside and outside the class. It is the
least restrictive access level.
Example:
class MyClass {
public:
int myVar;
void myMethod() {
// Can be called from outside the class
}
};
2. private
Members declared as private can only be accessed by the methods of the same class or by friends of the class. They cannot be
accessed directly from outside the class.
This is the most restrictive access level.
Example:
class MyClass {
private:
int myVar; // Can't be accessed directly from outside
public:
void setVar(int val) {
myVar = val; // Can access private member inside the class
}
int getVar() {
return myVar; // Can access private member inside the class
}
};
3. protected

Members declared as protected can be accessed by the methods of the same class, or by derived classes (subclasses), but not from outside the class
hierarchy.
This access level is useful when you want derived classes to be able to access some of the base class members, but you don't want them to be exposed
publicly.
Example:
class MyClass {
protected:
int myVar; // Accessible to derived classes but not from outside
public:
MyClass() : myVar(0) {}
};

class Derived : public MyClass {


public:
void setVar(int val) {
myVar = val; // Can access protected member in derived class
}
};
Default Access Modifier
 For classes, the default access level is private, meaning that if no access modifier is
provided, members are private.
 For struct, the default access level is public, so members are accessible outside the struct
unless otherwise specified.
Example with all three access modifiers:
class MyClass {
private:
int privateVar;

protected:
int protectedVar;

public:
int publicVar;

MyClass() : privateVar(0), protectedVar(0), publicVar(0) {}

void setPrivateVar(int val) {


privateVar = val; // Private member can be modified within the class
}

int getPrivateVar() {
return privateVar; // Accessing private member within the class
}
};

int main() {
MyClass obj;
obj.publicVar = 5; // Can access public members
// obj.privateVar = 10; // Error: private member can't be accessed outside
// obj.protectedVar = 20; // Error: protected member can't be accessed outside
}
Summary:
 public: Accessible from anywhere.
 private: Accessible only within the class and by friends.
 protected: Accessible within the class and by derived classes.

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