what is the difference between protected and private(c++)?

Private means the data declared private within the class can only be altered by specially written "accessor" functions.

Protected means that the data is basically private, but it can be used by derived classes, whereas private data cannot.

HTH,

ukdeveloper.

A little side not to add to ukdevelopers comment, protected only works its way down so say you have parent class Animal, and child class Dog and a child class Cat. Only public data can be read by parent clas Animal..not protected or private, even though the class Animal is a parent of Dog and Cat.

To make it simple:

Your friends can touch your privates. Your children cannot.

Children and friends know your protected stuff, strangers to not.

Quote:

Original post by frob Your friends can touch your privates.

That's just a little disturbing...

Quote:

Original post by ricekrispyw Quote: Original post by frob Your friends can touch your privates. That's just a little disturbing...

It's also one of the most commonly used descriptions.