CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++private
elios264
elios264

Reputation: 395

Accessing private members c++

In this code why can I access the private member of the object with no compiler error?

class Cents
{
private:
    int m_nCents;
public:
    Cents(int nCents=0)
    {
        m_nCents = nCents;
    }

    // Copy constructor
    Cents(const Cents &cSource)
    {
        m_nCents = cSource.m_nCents;
    }

    Cents& operator= (const Cents &cSource);

};

Cents& Cents::operator= (const Cents &cSource)
{

cSource.m_nCents is private why can I do the following:

    m_nCents = cSource.m_nCents;

    // return the existing object
    return *this;
}

Upvotes: 5

Views: 2939

Answers (2)

Sarfaraz Nawaz
Sarfaraz Nawaz

Reputation: 361812

You can access private members from member-functions/constructors/destructor/freinds of the class. It is class-based accessibility, not object-based accessibility.

Upvotes: 4

Oliver Charlesworth
Oliver Charlesworth

Reputation: 272832

Because private means "visible accessible to the class", not "visible accessible to the object".

Upvotes: 9

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