Accessing Variables In a Class

[Erik Jordan]

When accessing Variables in the same class is it best practise to use encapsulation (Getters and Setters) or direct access via the dot operator?

I know its good practise to use encapsulation when accessing Variables in other classes.

Thanks
E

[Devaka Cooray]

It depends on the design of the class. In most cases, unless on a specific requirement, you may directly access the private variables within the same class.

[Janeice DelVecchio]

Welcome to JavaRanch!

Devaka makes a good point, just remember it is a good practice to make your member variables private. So if you will need them from a different class. you'll need a getter.

[Michael Angstadt]

It depends on what your getters and setters are doing. If they are just getting and setting the field, then you might as well access the fields directly. But if they do something that would require you do duplicate code, then you should call the method.