C++: A Dialog Programming with the C++ Standard Library

More about the private Access Specifier

Now that we have disposed of the correspondence between arrays and pointers, it's time to return to our discussion of the private access specifier that we've used to control access to the member variables of the class. First of all, let me refresh your memory as to what this access specifier means: only member functions of the string class can refer to variables or functions marked private. As a rule, no member variables of a class should be public. By contrast, most member functions are public, because such functions provide the interface that is used by programmers who need the facilities of the class being defined. However, non-public member functions are sometimes useful for handling implementation ...