Java - Access Levels for Class Members

Why access control

The access level for a class member controls where it can be accessed.

Access level for class member

One of the following four access level modifiers can be used for a class member:

public
private
protected
Default or package-level access

Access levels for a class member can be listed from the most restrictive to the least restrictive as

private
package-level
protected
public.

Summary

The following table summarizes the four access levels for a class member.

Access Level for Class Member	Accessibility
private	Only within the same class
package-level	In the same package
protected	Same package or descendant in any package
public	Everywhere

Example

The following is a sample class that declares many class members with different access levels:

public class Main {
  private int num1; // private access level
  int num2; // package-level access
  protected int num3; // protected access level
  public int num4; // public access level

  public static int count = 1; // public access level

  // m1() method has private access level
  private void m1() {
    // Code goes here
  }

  // m2() method has package-level access
  void m2() {
    // Code goes here
  }

  // m3() method has protected access level
  protected void m3() {
    // Code goes here
  }

  // m4() method has public access level
  public void m4() {
    // Code goes here
  }

  // doSomething() method has private access level
  private static void doSometing() {
    // Code goes here
  }
}