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Java Java Objects (Retired) Delivering the MVP Refactoring

Ayman Syam
Ayman Syam
2,346 Points
Posted by Ayman Syam
Ayman Syam
2,346 Points

Who can use the public and private classes/methods?

This question goes a little back, but to whom exactly do public and private refer to? Do they refer to users or to other programmers who are building upon the code? Thanks.

1 Answer

Grigorij Schleifer
Grigorij Schleifer
10,365 Points
Grigorij Schleifer
Grigorij Schleifer
10,365 Points

Hi Ayman,

"private" and "public" are access modifiers for you and other programmers.

  • Public variables, are variables that are visible to all classes and everyone can use them.
  • Private variables, are variables that are visible only to the class to which they belong

So if you want to protect your code you can encapsulate it. Set the variable as private and use a public getter method. Other programmers can´t change the private field, they have to use the getter method to access the private variable.

Makes sense?

Grigorij