What will happen if data members of a superclass are made private instead of protected?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the implications of making data members in a superclass private instead of protected, particularly in the context of object-oriented programming and inheritance. We will explore how this change affects accessibility and inheritance in subclasses.
Answer
Subclasses cannot directly access private members, promoting encapsulation and data hiding.
If data members of a superclass are made private instead of protected, subclasses cannot directly access these members. This promotes encapsulation and data hiding but limits subclass interaction with superclass data, requiring methods to access such data.
Answer for screen readers
If data members of a superclass are made private instead of protected, subclasses cannot directly access these members. This promotes encapsulation and data hiding but limits subclass interaction with superclass data, requiring methods to access such data.
More Information
By making data members private, you prevent inheritance issues that can arise from tightly coupled designs. It also allows the superclass to change its internal data without affecting subclasses.
Tips
A common mistake is assuming protected and private have the same inheritance behavior. Remember, private members are not inherited.
Sources
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