JAVA — Access modifiers

In Java, access modifiers are keywords used to control the visibility (access level) of classes, variables, methods, and constructors.

1. public

• Accessible from anywhere (any class, package, or project)
• Used when you → make a class/member to be accessible from any other class.

2. private

• Accessible only within the same class
• Used to hide internal details (data hiding = encapsulation)

Get hansini gunasena’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

3. protected

Accessible in:

• The same package, same class
• Subclasses ( in other packages)
• useful for inheritance when you want to allow access only to child class.

4. (Default)— (Package private) no modifier

• Accessible only within the same package