Protected Access Specifiers (C#)

The protected access specifier hides its member variables and functions from other classes and objects. This type of variable or function can only be accessed in child class. It becomes very important while implementing inheritance.


Example:

---

using System;

namespace Protected_Specifier
{
  class access
   {
     // String Variable declared as protected
     protected string name;
     public void print()
      {
        Console.WriteLine("\nMy name is " + name);
      }
   }

  class Program
   {
     static void Main(string[] args)
      {
        access ac = new access();
        Console.Write("Enter your name:\t");
        // raise error because of its protection level
        ac.name = Console.ReadLine();
        ac.print();
        Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

---

Output:


'Protected_Specifier.access.name' is inaccessible due to its protection level.


This is because; the protected member can only be accessed within its child class. You can use protected access specifiers as follow:

---

Example:

---

using System;

namespace Protected_Specifier
{
  class access
   {
     // String Variable declared as protected
     protected string name;
     public void print()
      {
        Console.WriteLine("\nMy name is " + name);
      }
   }

  class Program : access // Inherit access class
   {
     static void Main(string[] args)
      {
        Program p=new Program();
        Console.Write("Enter your name:\t");
        p.name = Console.ReadLine(); // No Error!!
        p.print();
        Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

---

 Output

---

Enter your name:     Aav Kumar

My name is Aav Kumar

---