🔒 Access Specifiers

Last Updated: 24th October 2025

Access Specifiers (or Access Modifiers) are used to control the visibility of class properties and methods.
They define who can access what — inside or outside the class.

Hinglish Tip 🗣: Access Specifier ek “security guard” jaisa hai — jo decide karta hai kaunsa data class ke bahar dikhana hai aur kaunsa hidden rakhna hai.

🧩 1. Public Members

  • Default in JavaScript.
  • Can be accessed anywhere — inside or outside the class.
  • No special symbol needed.

Example:

class Student {
  constructor(name, age) {
    this.name = name; // public
    this.age = age; // public
  }

  show() {
    console.log(`Name: ${this.name}, Age: ${this.age}`);
  }
}

const s1 = new Student("Riya", 20);
console.log(s1.name); // ✅ Accessible
s1.show(); // ✅ Accessible

Hinglish Tip 🗣: Public members sabko dikhte hain — class ke bahar se bhi access ho sakte hain.

🕵️‍♂️ 2. Private Members (#)

  • Declared using # (hash symbol).
  • Can only be accessed inside the class.
  • Helps hide sensitive data like passwords, balance, etc.
  • Introduced in ES2022.
class BankAccount {
  #balance = 1000; // private property

  #showBalance() {
    // private method
    console.log(`Current Balance: ${this.#balance}`);
  }

  accessBalance() {
    this.#showBalance(); // ✅ accessible inside
  }
}

const acc = new BankAccount();
acc.accessBalance(); // ✅ Works
// console.log(acc.#balance); ❌ Error: Private field '#balance' must be declared

Hinglish Tip 🗣: # lagao aur data ko “lock” kar do — sirf class ke andar ka code hi use dekh sakta hai.

3. Protected Members (by Convention)

  • JavaScript doesn’t officially support protected members.
  • But developers follow a naming convention using _ (underscore).
  • \_propertyName → means “treat this as protected”.
  • Accessible by subclasses but should not be used directly outside.
class Person {
  constructor(name) {
    this._name = name; // protected (by convention)
  }
}

class Employee extends Person {
  showName() {
    console.log(`Employee: ${this._name}`); // ✅ accessible in subclass
  }
}

const e1 = new Employee("Amit");
e1.showName(); // ✅ Works
console.log(e1._name); // ⚠️ Works, but not recommended

Hinglish Tip 🗣: _underscore ka matlab hota hai — “main protected hu, please mujhe directly mat chuo!”

Getter & Setter Methods

  • Used to get and set object properties safely.
  • Defined using the keywords get and set.
  • Commonly used for data validation or computed values.
class Employee {
  constructor(name, salary) {
    this.name = name;
    this._salary = salary;
  }

  // getter
  get salary() {
    return this._salary;
  }

  // setter
  set salary(value) {
    if (value < 0) {
      console.log("Salary cannot be negative!");
    } else {
      this._salary = value;
    }
  }
}

const emp = new Employee("Amit", 50000);
console.log(emp.salary); // getter → 50000
emp.salary = 60000; // setter → updated
console.log(emp.salary); // 60000

Hinglish Tip 🗣: Getter “value lene” ke liye aur Setter “value set/update karne” ke liye hota hai

💡 Quick Practice

  • Create a Car class with:
    • a constructor (brand, model)
    • an instance method info()
  • a static method compare(car1, car2) that compares model names.
    • Make a class Circle with:
    • radius property
    • get area() → returns area
    • set radius() → prevents negative radius.
  • Create a class with one private method that logs a secret message.
  • Create a class User with:
    • #password as private
    • username as public
    • a method checkPassword(input) that validates password
  • Exercise
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