Access Modifiers Explained In C#

In this blog, I will explain the Access Modifiers in C#

Access Modifiers

 

In this blog, I will explain the Access Modifiers in C#. The access modifiers are keywords used to access object and class members in the C# project. The following access modifiers are used in C#.

• Private
• Public
• Protected
• Internal
• Protected Internal
• Private protected 

Accessibility Levels

 

Private

 

The private modifier accesses class members only. It can’t be accessed by the object and derived classes.

 

Examples

class Test
{
private int id = 1;
private string name = "Magesh";
private string city = "Bangalore";

}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Test test = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}", test.id);
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}", test.name);
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test.city); // Error. We can't access the test class variables because it has the private access modifier and its only accessible test class.

}

}

Public

 

The public Modifier is all members’ access to all classes and projects. It can be accessed by the object and derived classes.

 

Examples

class Test
{
public int id=1;
public string name= "Magesh";
public string city= "Bangalore";

}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Test test = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}", test.id); //Output:1;
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}", test.name);//Output:Magesh;
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test.city);// Output:Bangalore;

}
}

Protected

 

The protected Modifier allows access to all members in current class and derived classes can access the variables. It can’t be accessed by the object.

 

Examples

class Test
{
protected int id = 1;
protected string name = "Magesh";
protected string city = "Bangalore";//we can access this variables inside this class.

}
class derivedClass : Test
{
void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}", id);//Output :1
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}", name);//Output:Magesh
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", city);//Output:Bangalore
}
}
class Program3
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Test test3 = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}", test3.id);
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}", test3.name);
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test3.city);// Error. We can't access the test class variables because it has the protected access modifier.The Program class doesn't
derive from the Test Class

}

}

Internal

 

The Internal Modifier allows access only to members in the current project. It can’t be accessed by the object.

 

Examples

//First Project (Assembly)
class Test
{
internal int id = 1;
internal string name = "Magesh";
internal string city = "Bangalore";//we can access this variables inside this class.

}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Test test = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}",test. id);//Output :1
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}",test.name);//Output:Magesh
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test.city);//Output:Bangalore
}
}
//second Project(Assembly)
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{

Test test = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}", test.id);
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}", test.name);
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test.city);// Error.This Program class is second project we can't access the internal members from another project.
}
}

Protected Internal

 

The protected internal modifier allows access to all members in current projects and all members in derived classes can access the variables.

 

Examples

//First Project (Assembly)
class Test
{
protected internal int id = 1;
protected internal string name = "Magesh";
protected internal string city = "Bangalore";//we can access this variables inside this class.

}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Test test = new Test();
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}",test. id);//Output :1
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}",test.name);//Output:Magesh
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}", test.city);//Output:Bangalore
}
}


//second Project(Assembly)
class Program:Test
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Id:{0}",id );//Output:1;
Console.WriteLine("Name:{0}",name);//Output:Magesh
Console.WriteLine("City:{0}",city);//Output:Bangalore
}
}

Private protected

 

The private protected modifier allows access to limited containing class or type derived from the containing class within the current assembly.