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# Access Modifiers

[MSDN C# Programming Guide](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173121.aspx)

**Access modifiers** control access to class instance variables and class methods. The default access for class instance variables (fields) and methods in C# is **private**, if none is specified as part of a declaration / definition then the access is **private, this restricts access from outside the class definition**. **Public access modifier allows access from within any other class definition**, it is the least restricted and should be used sparingly when applied to class variables.  **public** access for variables does not enforce encapsulation, it can allow unintentional modification of variable values. **Public access for class methods** is standard practice, It supports allowing objects to execute their class-defined methods from within another class. This is considered the mechanism that allows objects to communicate with each other.\
**Protected** access modifier allows child classes to access a base-class variable as if it were **public**, but outside the base and child classes, the variable access is restricted as if access were specified as private.

C# Access modifiers:

```
private //default - variable can only be used within the class definition
public // allows use outside the class definition
protected // can be used in a base class to allow access in child class. Outside base and child classes, the variable is private
```