PHP OOP – Access Modifiers

In PHP, there is access modifiers for properties and methods which controls the property and method accessibility or visibility scope.

There are three access modifiers:

1. Public (Default) Access Modifier
2. Private
3. Protected

Public Access Modifier

Public access modifier is default access modifier. And its properties and methods can be accessible from anywhere.

Let us understand by an example –

<?php
class Car{
  //Public properties and methods can be accessed from anywhere...
  public $name;

  public function get_name() {
    echo "Car name is ". $this->name;
  }
}

$car= new Car();
$car->name= "Volkswagen";
$car->get_name();
?>

//OUTPUT
Volkswagen

Private Access Modifier

In private access modifier, the properties and methods can only be accessed within the class itself.

For example:

<?php
class Car{
  public $name;
  private $price;
}

$car = new Car();
$car->name = 'Volkswagen'; //OK
$car->price= '30,000,00'; //ERROR
?>

Protected Access Modifier

In Protected access modifier, the properties and methods can be accessed within the class and by the classes derived from that class.

For example:

<?php
class Car{
  public $name;
  protected $price;
}

$car = new Car();
$car->name = 'Volkswagen'; //OK
$car->price= '30,000,00'; //ERROR
?>