Navigating C++ and Object-Oriented Design

11.8. Protected Derivation

Protected derivation is a slight variation of private derivation. With private derivation, all protected and public base class members become private in the derived class. With protected derivation, all protected and public base class members become protected in the derived class. When you derive a grandchild class (relative to a base class) and need access to members of the original base class, protected derivation is useful (note that this access is not possible with private inheritance). Protected derivation is similar to protected access levels inside classes because subsequently derived class members may access public and protected sections of the original base class. User code, on the other hand, cannot access ...