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Revision: 69701
at August 20, 2015 07:24 by xyzeugene


Initial Code
type
  TFather = class
  private
    FPriv : integer;
  strict private
    FStrPriv : integer;
  protected
    FProt : integer;
  strict protected
    FStrProt : integer;
  public
    FPublic : integer;
  end;

  TSon = class(TFather)
  public
    procedure DoStuff;
  end;

  TUnrelated = class
  public
    procedure DoStuff;
  end;

procedure TSon.DoStuff;
begin
  FProt := 10;       // Legal, as it should be. Accessible to descendants.
  FPriv := 100;      // Legal, even though private. This won't work from another unit!
  FStrictPriv := 10; // <- Compiler Error, FStrictPrivFather is private to TFather
  FPublic := 100;    // Legal, naturally. Public members are accessible from everywhere.
end;

procedure TUnrelated.DoStuff;
var
  F : TFather;
begin
  F := TFather.Create;
  try
    F.FProt := 10;     // Legal, but it shouldn't be!
    F.FStrProt := 100; // <- Compiler error, the strict keyword has "made the protection work"
    F.FPublic := 100;  // Legal, naturally.
  finally
    F.Free;
  end;
end;

Initial URL
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1516493/difference-between-strict-private-and-protected-access-modifiers-in-delphi

Initial Description
The difference between private, protected and public is pretty straightforward:

*Private members/methods are only visible within the class that declares them.

*Protected members/methods are visible within the class, and to all subclasses.

*Public members and methods are visible to all other classes.

In Delphi there's a "bug" that makes the visibility of all members public within the same unit. The strict keyword corrects this behaviour, so that private is actually private, even within a single unit. For good encapsulation I would recommend always using the strict keyword.

Initial Title
Delphi/Lazarus: Difference between restrict, private, and protected Access Modifiers

Initial Tags

                                

Initial Language
Delphi