Python is an object-oriented programming (OOPs) language in which Classes are integral. Classes are so powerful in object-oriented programming that we can perform high-level tasks like inheritance, abstraction, encapsulation, and polymorphism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, Python classes provide a way to organize code, encapsulate data and behavior, create reusable templates for objects, and implement inheritance. Classes offer a powerful way to organize and manage complex code, promote reusability and make the code easier to read and understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can control the access of the variables and methods inside the Python classes. Access modifiers are used to control access to the variables and methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Access modifiers play an important role in securing the data from unauthorized access and preventing any data exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the underscore ( Let’s understand those above-mentioned access modifiers one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name “Public<\/strong>” says all about this access modifier the variables and methods declared inside the specific Python class can be accessed by that class and any Python class outside that specific class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public methods are accessible outside the class and with the help of objects the public methods can be invoked inside the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the variables and methods in a Python class are public<\/strong> by default and just like mentioned above can be accessed from outside the class environment. Here’s an example that will help us understand better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the above code, we defined a Python class named Then we created a variable called Here, In the above code, We can use these variables in other functions also and the following code shows how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We created a function called Protected variables and methods are accessible within the specific class environment and can also be accessed by the sub-classes. We can also say that it allows the resources of the parent class to be inherited by the child class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any variables or methods prefixed with a single underscore<\/strong> ( Here is a code to make protected variables\/methods inside the Python class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the above code, In the next block of code, we instantiated the class We can also access these protected instance variables and protected functions inside the derived class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the above code, the class We called the public<\/strong> function to display the result from the protected variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might be thinking that protected variables<\/strong> of the class As we can tell by seeing its name the “Private<\/strong>” access modifier restricts the variables and methods declared inside the specific class to that class environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply put, the variables and methods declared inside a class can be accessed inside that class environment and not outside that class. Python doesn’t have any mechanism restricting access to the variables or methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there is a way by which we can impose restrictions to access the variables and methods in Python. Python suggests using a double underscore<\/strong> to imitate the behavior of the private access modifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Variables and methods prefixed with a double underscore<\/strong> ( In the above code, the class We got the AttributeError<\/strong> saying that the class In the above code, we created a public function called The code ran without any error and we got the output that we expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Python prevents private data from accessing outside the class so it does name mangling<\/strong> which means that it changes the process of accessing private data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can access the private data<\/strong> from the class and the following example will show you how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We tried the name-mangling<\/strong> process that helps us access the variables outside the class. We added the We successfully accessed the Python uses a specific naming convention to make any variables\/methods protected and private inside the class and all the variables and methods defined inside the Python class are public by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public data attributes are accessible by any class and function, protected data attributes should only be accessed inside the class environment and can also be accessed inside the sub-classes and private data attributes are only accessible inside the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have learned about the public, protected, and private access modifiers that are used to impose restrictions on accessing the variables and methods of the Python class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83c\udfc6Other articles you might like if you liked this article<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705A modern way to perform string interpolation using f-string in Python<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705Integrate the PostgreSQL database with Python<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705Build a custom deep-learning model using the transfer learning technique<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u27058 different ways by which you can reverse a Python list<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2705Powerful one-liners in Python to enhance your code<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n_<\/code>), we can control access to the data inside the Python classes. Python Class has three types of access modifiers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Public Access Modifier<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
class Hero:\n def __init__(self, real_name, reel_name, hero_name):\n self.real_name = real_name\n self.reel_name = reel_name\n self.hero_name = hero_name\n\nhero = Hero(\"RDJ\", \"Tony Stark\", \"Iron Man\")\n\nprint(\"Real name: \", hero.real_name)\nprint(\"Reel name: \", hero.reel_name)\nprint(\"Hero name: \", hero.hero_name)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Hero<\/code> in which we created a constructor that accepts three arguments named real_name<\/code>, reel_name<\/code>, and hero_name<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nhero<\/code> outside the class and instantiated the class Hero<\/code> with corresponding arguments and then printed the values.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReal name: RDJ\nReel name: Tony Stark\nHero name: Iron Man<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
real_name<\/code>, reel_name<\/code> and hero_name<\/code> are public data members and can be used anywhere in the program. We can also create a public member function inside the class and access it. The following example will show how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nclass Hero:\n def __init__(self, real_name, reel_name, hero_name):\n self.real_name = real_name\n self.reel_name = reel_name\n self.hero_name = hero_name\n\n def display_name(self):\n print(\"Real name :\", self.real_name)\n print(\"Reel name :\", self.reel_name)\n\nhero = Hero(\"Chris Evans\", \"Steve Rogers\", \"Captain America\")\nhero.display_name()\nprint(\"Hero name: \", hero.hero_name)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
display_name<\/code> is a public member function and we accessed it outside the class. The code will run without any errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReal name : Chris Evans\nReel name : Steve Rogers\nHero name: Captain America<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
def access_public_data():\n x = Hero(\"Andrew Garfield\", \"Peter Parker\", \"Spider-man\")\n print(\"Real name: \", x.real_name)\n print(\"Reel name: \", x.reel_name)\n print(\"Hero name: \", x.hero_name)\n\naccess_public_data()<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
access_public_data<\/code> and instantiated the class Hero<\/code> which we made earlier and passed the required arguments and called that function. Since the variables inside the Hero<\/code> class are public, the code will run without any error.<\/p>\n\n\n\nReal name: Andrew Garfield\nReel name: Peter Parker\nHero name: Spider-man<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Protected Access Modifier<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
_<\/code>) in a class are protected<\/strong> and can be accessed within the specific class environment. The protected variables\/methods can be accessed inside the sub-classes of the parent class.<\/p>\n\n\n\nclass Anime:\n _rating = \"Best\"\n def __init__(self, anime, release_year):\n self._anime = anime\n self._release_year = release_year\n\n def _show(self):\n print(\"Release:\", self._release_year)\n\nobj = Anime(\"Naruto\", 2002)\nprint(\"Anime:\", obj._anime)\nobj._show()<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
_anime<\/code> and _release_year<\/code> which are protected instance variables inside the class Anime<\/code> as well as it has a protected function called _show<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnime<\/code> and passed the required arguments and stored them inside the object named obj<\/code> then displayed the result by calling the protected<\/strong> function and variable.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnime: Naruto\nRelease: 2002<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
# Derived class\nclass Other_Anime(Anime):\n def __init__(self, anime, year):\n Anime.__init__(self, anime, year)\n\n def show_anime(self):\n print(\"Anime:\", self._anime)\n self._show()\n\nx = Other_Anime(\"Demon Slayer\", 2019)\nx.show_anime()<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Other_Anime<\/code> is created which inherits the class Anime<\/code> and we defined the public function named show_anime<\/code> that accesses the protected<\/strong> variables of the class Anime<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnime: Demon Slayer\nRelease: 2019<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Anime<\/code> were also accessible outside the class environment. The protected variables and functions can be accessed by the derived classes and any other classes but it is the sole responsibility of the good programmer not to use the protected data members<\/strong> outside the specific class environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Private Access Modifier<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
__<\/code>) make them private and cannot be accessed outside the specific class. Let’s understand it with an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\nclass Superhero:\n __hero = \"Iron Man\"\n\n def __init__(self, name):\n self.__name = name\n\nobj = Superhero(\"Shaktiman\")\nprint(obj.__name)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Superhero<\/code> is created and we created the private variable named __hero<\/code> and a private instance variable named __name<\/code>. Then we instantiated the class and passed the required arguments and tried to access the private data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTraceback (most recent call last):\n ...\n print(obj.__name)\nAttributeError: 'Superhero' object has no attribute '__name'<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Superhero<\/code> has no attribute called __name<\/code> and it happened because the private data in a class cannot be accessed outside the class. But we can access the private variables and methods inside the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\nclass Superhero:\n def __init__(self, name):\n self.__name = name\n\n def displayname(self):\n print(\"Hero:\", self.__name)\n\nobj = Superhero(\"Shaktiman\")\nobj.displayname()<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
displayname<\/code> that accesses the private variable __name<\/code> inside the class and we tried to print the output.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHero: Shaktiman<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
class Superhero:\n __hero = \"Iron Man\"\n\n def __init__(self, name):\n self.__name = name\n\nobj = Superhero(\"Shaktiman\")\nprint(obj._Superhero__name)\nprint(obj._Superhero__hero)<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
_Superhero<\/code> which is the name of our base class and then added the private variable to the class object obj<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShaktiman\nIron Man<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
__name<\/code> and __hero<\/code> variables outside the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Conclusion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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