PHP – Access Modifiers

In the PHP each and every property of a class in must have one of three visibility levels, known as public, private, and protected.

• public – the property or method can be accessed from everywhere. This is default
• protected – the property or method can be accessed within the class and by classes derived from that class
• private – the property or method can ONLY be accessed within the class

<?php
class Cars {
  public $name;
  protected $color;
  private $weight;
}
$mango = new Cars();
$mango->name = 'Maruti'; // OK
$mango->color = 'Yellow'; // ERROR
$mango->weight = '300'; // ERROR
?>

<?php
class Fruit {
public $name;
public $color;
public $weight;
function set_name($n) { // a public function (default)
$this->name = $n;
}
protected function set_color($n) { // a protected function
$this->color = $n;
}
private function set_weight($n) { // a private function
$this->weight = $n;
}
}
$mango = new Fruit();
$mango->set_name('Mango'); // OK
$mango->set_color('Yellow'); // ERROR
$mango->set_weight('300'); // ERROR
?>