variable « equal method « Java Class Q&A

1. Why can I access my private variables of the "other" object directly, in my equals(Object o) method    stackoverflow.com

In Java in the equals(Object o) method I can access the private variables of the passed in object without going through its public getters.

public boolean equals(Object o){
    ...
 ...

2. Temp. variable or method calls? And literal or equivalent variable?    stackoverflow.com

 private static final Group[] toGroups (String string)
    {
        int     partialGroupSize = string.length() % GROUP_SIZE;
   ...