Private or Public

gtriarhos · 10-10-2005, 03:40 PM

Hi, I was curious why you would neet to declare and variable in a class as private, and then use the get and set for the property, when you could just use a public variable? I might be getting something confused and need just a bit more explanation.

Thanks

**Thantos** · 10-10-2005, 04:28 PM

You can do it to maintain a proper state of the object.

Lets say you had an object that contained two integers. One of which can never be lower then 2. Well if you just had a public variable then anyone could assign a value of 1 to it. However if you make them go through one of your functions to change it then you can check first to make sure its a proper value.

Frobozz · 10-10-2005, 04:32 PM

Concerning what Thantos said, it also makes it so the programmer using your object does not have to check to see if the value going into it is less than 2. This makes it easier on the programmer later when he has to debug the program.

nickname_changed · 10-10-2005, 07:14 PM

And even if you don't want to check if it's less than two, it's best to do it anyway, because one day you might like to. For example, in all of my properties that return a string, I check if the string is null and return string.Empty rather than null.

It's just good practice. One of the great goals of object oriented programming is encapsulation. Exposing your private parts to strangers isn't recommended

10-10-2005, 03:40 PM	#1
gtriarhos Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 16	Private or Public Hi, I was curious why you would neet to declare and variable in a class as private, and then use the get and set for the property, when you could just use a public variable? I might be getting something confused and need just a bit more explanation. Thanks
gtriarhos is offline

10-10-2005, 04:28 PM	#2
Thantos & the hat of GPL slaying Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 5,732	You can do it to maintain a proper state of the object. Lets say you had an object that contained two integers. One of which can never be lower then 2. Well if you just had a public variable then anyone could assign a value of 1 to it. However if you make them go through one of your functions to change it then you can check first to make sure its a proper value.
Thantos is offline

10-10-2005, 04:32 PM	#3
Frobozz Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 546	Concerning what Thantos said, it also makes it so the programmer using your object does not have to check to see if the value going into it is less than 2. This makes it easier on the programmer later when he has to debug the program.
Frobozz is offline

10-10-2005, 07:14 PM	#4
nickname_changed Banned Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 986	And even if you don't want to check if it's less than two, it's best to do it anyway, because one day you might like to. For example, in all of my properties that return a string, I check if the string is null and return string.Empty rather than null. It's just good practice. One of the great goals of object oriented programming is encapsulation. Exposing your private parts to strangers isn't recommended
nickname_changed is offline

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
OOP Question DB Access Wrapper Classes	digioz	C# Programming	2	09-07-2008 04:30 PM
Linking problems in Visual Studio	h3ro	C++ Programming	5	03-04-2008 02:39 PM
Need help with calculator program	Kate	C# Programming	1	01-16-2004 10:48 AM
I need a code for Tic Tac Toe game ?	martyr	C++ Programming	11	12-07-2003 03:29 AM
structure vs class	sana	C++ Programming	13	12-02-2002 07:18 AM