Java Access Specifiers

In Java, access specifiers are used to define the level of access that a class, method, or variable has from other classes or methods. There are four types of access specifiers in Java:

public: A class, method, or variable that is declared as public can be accessed from anywhere. This is the most permissive access level.

private: A class, method, or variable that is declared as private can only be accessed within the same class. This is the most restrictive access level.

protected: A class, method, or variable that is declared as protected can be accessed within the same package or by a subclass in a different package.

default (or package-private): A class, method, or variable that does not have an access specifier specified is considered to have default (or package-private) access. This means that it can be accessed within the same package, but not from outside of the package.

It’s worth noting that, for a class, the access specifier can only be public or default. The access specifier for a method or variable can be any of the four access levels.

Additionally, a private method or variable can be accessed from within the same class, but not from a subclass. A protected method or variable can be accessed from within the same package and from a subclass in another package.