In programming languages like Java, C++, etc., private, protected and public keywords are used to control the access of class members. But in Python, there are no such keywords. By prefixing the name of variables and methods with a single or double underscore, you can make them protected and private members of a class respectively.
In Python, by default, all members of a class are public which means you can access them from outside the class without any restrictions.
Public variables and methods are the least restricted members of a class.
#Python program to create public variables and methods of a class
class Person:
def __init__(self, firstName, lastName):
self.firstName = firstName
self.lastName = lastName
def display(self):
print('My name is ', self.firstName, self.lastName)
p = Person("Mitali", "Natani")
print('First name: ', p.firstName)
print('Last name: ', p.lastName)
p.display()
Output of the above program
First name: Mitali Last name: Natani My name is Mitali Natani
By prefixing variables and methods with a single underscore(_), you can make them protected members. Even after declaring like this, you can still access protected members and Python interpreter will not give any error.
#Python program to create protected variables and methods of a class
class Person:
def __init__(self, firstName, lastName):
self._firstName = firstName
self._lastName = lastName
def _display(self):
print('My name is ', self._firstName, self._lastName)
p = Person("Mitali", "Natani")
print('First name: ', p._firstName)
print('Last name: ', p._lastName)
p._display()
Output of the above program
First name: Mitali Last name: Natani My name is Mitali Natani
As you can see, we can access protected members of a class but as a good programmer, you must avoid doing this.
Private variables and methods are created by prefixing their name with double underscore. For more details and example on private members of a class, click here.
