private & protected constructors

[Anilkumar Ravinuthala]

please let me know the conditions we should prefer private & protected constructors

[Campbell Ritchie]

When you don't want the constructor called from outside their own class.
When you don't want other classes to be able to instantiate this class.

Example: the java.lang.Math class has a private constructor which makes it impossible to instantiate a Math object.
Example: Go through these fora with the "search" option until you find "singleton." A "singleton" should only have one instance; its constructor is private so it can only be instantiated from inside its own class, so only one instance is ever created.

A protected constructor only works when the superclass is hidden away in a different package. It then restricts constructor calls to classes in its own package (which you have hidden away) and its subclasses, presumably in the form "super(a, b, c);".