Access Specifier in Java

 Access modifiers in Java define the visibility (access level) of classes, methods, constructors, and variables. They control which parts of the program can access a specific code element.

Modifier	Within Class	Within Package	Outside Package (subclass)	Outside Package
private	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
(default)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
protected	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No
public	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

 

 

private Modifier

• Accessible only within the same class.

• Not accessible even in subclasses or other classes.

Example

class Student

{ // Private data members

private String name = "Ankit";

private int rollNo = 101;

// Private method

private void display() {

System.out.println("Name: " + name);

System.out.println("Roll No: " + rollNo);

}

// A public method inside the class to internally call the private method (optional)

public void callPrivateDisplay() {

display(); // Allowed: private used within the class

}

public static void main(String[] args) {

Student s = new Student();

// These lines would cause errors because private members

are not accessible outside the class:

// System.out.println(s.name); // Error

// System.out.println(s.rollNo); // Error

// s.display(); // Error

// ✅ This works because we’re accessing private method via a public method

s.callPrivateDisplay();

}

}

public specifier

class Student {

// Public data members

public String name;

public int rollNo;

// Public method

public void display() {

System.out.println("Name: " + name);

System.out.println("Roll No: " + rollNo);

}

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Creating object of Student class

Student s = new Student();

// Accessing public variables directly

s.name = "Prasanjeet";

s.rollNo = 101;

// Calling public method

s.display();

}

}

Default Specifier

class Student {

// These fields and methods are default (no modifier)

String name;

int rollNo;

void display() {

System.out.println("Name: " + name);

System.out.println("Roll No: " + rollNo);

}

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Accessing default members within the same package

Student s = new Student();

s.name = "Anjali";

s.rollNo = 105;

s.display();

}

}

Protected Specifier

The protected access modifier allows access:

1. Within the same class
2. Within the same package
3. In subclasses, even if they are in different packages

We will discuss the protected access specifier in upcoming topic Inheritance.