doubt from ranch roundup

[amit taneja]

hi in question from roundup

Q can one object access a pvt variable of another object of the same class ?

A. yes, pvt means "pvt to the class" not "pvt to the object". so two objects of the same class could access each other's pvt data.


i didn't understand the question well ?
pls give one eg.

thanx

[Marcelo Ortega]

If two objects are from the 'same class' then those objects can access each others private members.
When you think private, think class level, not object level.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Marzo.

[Philip Heller]

Here's an example:

  
class Fish
{
  int    age;
 
  public int addOurAges(Fish otherFish)
  {
    return age + otherFish.age;
  }
}

See how the method accesses not only the age of the current Fish instance, but also the age of another instance? Perfectly legal.

[Timmy Marks]

However, you didn't make age private in Fish. Does it still work if age is private?

[vjy chin]

Yes, it still works if age is private in Fish.

Look at the example

 
class Fish{
private int    age = 10;
public int addOurAges(Fish otherFish)
{
  System.out.println("age INSIDE FISH: "+age);
  System.out.println("otherFish.age INSIDE FISH: "+otherFish.age);
 
  return age + otherFish.age;
}
}
 
class privateTest
{
 
    public static void main(String args[])
  {
    Fish fish = new Fish();
    Fish fish1 = new Fish();
 
    //fish.age = 15; //You cannot set this value if age is 
                           //declared  private in Fish class
    int age = fish.addOurAges(fish) + fish.addOurAges(fish1);
 
    System.out.println("age: "+age);
}
 
}