C++ classes (public, private, and protected)

Question

How can classes in C++ be declared public, private, or protected?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4855422/c-classes-public-private-and-protected

Answer 1

In C++ there is no notion of an entire class having an access specifier the way that there is in Java or C#. If a piece of code has visibility of a class, it can reference the name of that class and manipulate it. That said, there are a few restrictions on this. Just because you can reference a class doesn't mean you can instantiate it, for example, since the constructor might be marked private. Similarly, if the class is a nested class declared in another class's private or protected section, then the class won't be accessible outside from that class and its friends.