What are the differences between public, protected and private access specifiers in C#?

Public Access Specifier

Public access specifier allows a class to expose its member variables and member functions to other functions and objects. Any public member can be accessed from outside the class.

Example

 Live Demo

using System;
namespace Demo {
   class Rectangle {
      public double length;
      public double width;
      public double GetArea() {
         return length * width;
      }  
      public void Display() {
         Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", length);
         Console.WriteLine("Width: {0}", width);
         Console.WriteLine("Area: {0}", GetArea());
      }
   } //end class Rectangle
   class ExecuteRectangle {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
         Rectangle r = new Rectangle();
         r.length = 7;
         r.width = 10;
         r.Display();
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

Output

Length: 7
Width: 10
Area: 70

Protected Access Specifier

Protected access specifier allows a child class to access the member variables and member functions of its base class.

Let us see an example of protected access modifier, accessing the protected members.

Example

 Live Demo

using System;
namespace MySpecifiers {
   class Demo {
      protected string name = "Website";
      protected void Display(string str) {
         Console.WriteLine("Tabs: " + str);
      }
   }
   class Test : Demo {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
         Test t = new Test();
         Console.WriteLine("Details: " + t.name);
         t.Display("Product");
         t.Display("Services");
         t.Display("Tools");
         t.Display("Plugins");
      }
   }
}

Output

Details: Website
Tabs: Product
Tabs: Services
Tabs: Tools
Tabs: Plugins

Private Access Specifier

Private access specifier allows a class to hide its member variables and member functions from other functions and objects. Only functions of the same class can access its private members. Even an instance of a class cannot access its private members.

Example

 Live Demo

using System;
namespace Demo {
   class Rectangle {
      //member variables
      private double length;
      private double width;
      public void Acceptdetails() {
         length = 10;
         width = 15;
      }
      public double GetArea() {
         return length * width;
      }
      public void Display() {
         Console.WriteLine("Length: {0}", length);
         Console.WriteLine("Width: {0}", width);
         Console.WriteLine("Area: {0}", GetArea());
      }
   }//end class Rectangle
   class ExecuteRectangle {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
         Rectangle r = new Rectangle();
         r.Acceptdetails();
         r.Display();
         Console.ReadLine();
      }  
   }
}

Output

Length: 10
Width: 15
Area: 150