Access Modifiers

Kade Miller

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What Are Access Modifiers?

Access modifiers control who can see or use data in your class.
They’re all about visibility and protection.

You’ve got 3 main ones in C++:

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Public

Anyone can access it inside the class or from outside (like in main()).

class Player {
public:
    int score;

    void sayHi() {
        cout << "Hi!" << endl;
    }
};

int main() {
    Player p;
    p.score = 100;    // allowed
    p.sayHi();        // allowed
}

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## Private

class BankAccount {
private:
    double balance;

public:
    void deposit(double amount) {
        balance += amount;
    }

    double getBalance() {
        return balance;
    }
};

int main() {
    BankAccount b;
    // b.balance = 9999; not allowed
    b.deposit(1000);   // allowed
}

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## Protected

class Animal {
protected:
    string name;
};

class Dog : public Animal {
public:
    void setName(string n) {
        name = n;  // allowed in child class
    }
};

int main() {
    Dog d;
    // d.name = "Rex"; not allowed here
    d.setName("Rex");  // works through method
}