C++中public、protected以及private的使用

相比C语言，C++中通过class/struct来定义既包含数据，又包含行为的结构，从而支持了“对象”。现实世界中，一个人（一个对象）通常 拥有一些资产（数据），并且掌握某些技能（行为），并且这些资产和技能通常可以分为三类：

1. 可以与任何人分享的
2. 有限分享的，比如留给子孙后代的财产或本领
3. 除了自己之外谁也不能用的，比如给自己留的棺材^_^

为了表达类似的概念，在C++中使用public、protected以及private，分别代表可任意分享的、有限分享的以及独享的。比现实世界稍微复杂些，在C++中这三个关键字不仅可以修饰类成员，还可以修饰类的继承关系。

当这三个关键字用在类成员时：

class Base
{
public:
void publicMethod()
{
cout << "Begin of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
cout << "End of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}

static void staticPublicMethod(Base* obj)
{
// just call this class's static private method
staticPrivateMethod(obj);
}

int getProperty() { return property_; }
protected:
void protectedMethod()
{
cout << "Begin of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
cout << "call publicMethod from protected method: " << endl;
publicMethod();
cout << "End of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}
private:
void privateMethod()
{
cout << "Begin of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;

cout << "call publicMethod from private method: " << endl;
publicMethod();

cout << "call protected method from private method: " << endl;
protectedMethod();

cout << "End of " << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}

static void staticPrivateMethod(Base* obj)
{
// ok
obj->publicMethod();

// ok
obj->protectedMethod();

// ok
obj->privateMethod();
}

int property_;
};

class Derived : public Base
{
public:
void accessBase()
{
cout << "In Derived::" << __FUNCTION__ << ": " << endl;
cout << "we can access Base's public method:" << endl;
publicMethod();

cout << "we can access Base's protected method too: " << endl;
protectedMethod();

cout << "but we can't access Base's private method!" << endl;
// we will get a compile error if we try to call privateMethod: 'privateMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// privateMethod();
}

static void staticDerivedMethod(Derived* obj)
{
// ok
obj->protectedMethod();

// compile error: 'privateMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// obj->privateMethod();
}
};

int main()
{
Base obj;
// ok
obj.publicMethod();

// compile error: 'protectedMethod' is a protected member of 'Base'
// obj.protectedMethod();

// compile error: 'privateMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// obj.privateMethod();

// ok
Base::staticPublicMethod(&obj);

Derived dobj;
// ok
dobj.accessBase();

// ok
Derived::staticDerivedMethod(&dobj);
return 0;
}

从上面的程序中，可以看出：

1. 用public修饰的成员，既可以在其类内部使用（在privateMethod中调用），也可以在类外部通过类的实例来访问（main函数中调用obj.publicMethod()）
2. 用protected修饰的成员，能在该类内部或者其派生类（严格上说是非私有继承的派生类，下面会详细介绍）中使用（见privateMethod、accessBase以及staticDerivedMethod）
3. 用private修饰的成员，仅能在该类内部使用，在类外部或者派生类中都不能使用。

注意：以上描述中的“使用”，指的是直接引用（如不能在Derived中直接调用privateMethod）。尽管不能直接引用，但是仍然可以通过其他方法来访问（虽然在 Derived中无法直接访问Base的property_，但通过getProperty()，我们仍然可以在需要的时候获取其值）。

除了可以修饰类成员，这三个关键字还可以修饰类的继承关系：

class Base
{
public:
void publicBaseMethod()
{
cout << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}
protected:
void protectedBaseMethod()
{
cout << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}
private:
void privateBaseMethod()
{
cout << __FUNCTION__ << endl;
}
};

// public inheritance, all Base's members remain the same scope
class PublicDerived : public Base
{
public:
void accessBase()
{
// ok
publicBaseMethod();

// ok
protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// privateBaseMethod();
}
};

// protected inheritance, Base's public members will become protected in ProtectedDerived
class ProtectedDerived : protected Base
{
public:
void accessBase()
{
// ok
publicBaseMethod();

// ok
protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// privateBaseMethod();
}
};

// private inheritance, Base's public and protected members will become private in PrivateDerived
class PrivateDerived : private Base
{
public:
void accessBase()
{
// ok
publicBaseMethod();

// ok
protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// privateBaseMethod();
}
};

class SonOfPrivateDerived : public PrivateDerived
{
public:
void accessParent()
{
// compile error: 'publicBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// publicBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'protectedBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// protectedBaseMethod();

// IMPORTANTE NOTE: why PrivateDerived can access publicBaseMethod and protectedBaseMethod,
// although they are both private members of 'Base'???

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// privateBaseMethod();
}
};

int main()
{
PublicDerived pubd;
// ok
pubd.publicBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'protectedBaseMethod' is a protected member of 'Base'
// pubd.protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// pubd.privateBaseMethod();

pubd.accessBase();

ProtectedDerived prod;
// compile error: 'publicBaseMethod' is a protected member of 'Base',
// NOTE: the Base's public members now become protected in ProtectedDerived's perspective
// prod.publicBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'protectedBaseMethod' is a protected member of 'Base'
// NOTE: The Base's protected members remain protected in ProtectedDerived's perspective
// prod.protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// NOTE: The Base's private members remain private in ProtectedDerived's perspective
// prod.privateBaseMethod();

prod.accessBase();

PrivateDerived prid;
// compile error: 'publicBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// NOTE: publicBaseMethod now become private in PrivateDerived's perspective
// prid.publicBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'protectedBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// NOTE: protectedBaseMethod also become private in PrivateDerived's perspective
// prid.protectedBaseMethod();

// compile error: 'privateBaseMethod' is a private member of 'Base'
// prid.privateBaseMethod();

prid.accessBase();

SonOfPrivateDerived pubprid;
// NOTE: check the comments in accessParent to get the point
pubprid.accessParent();

return 0;
}

根据以上程序，可以得出public、protected和private在修饰继承关系中的作用为：

1. 当使用公有继承（public Base）时，派生类中看到的基类成员属性与基类中定义的一致，如示例程序中publicBaseMethod、protectedBaseMethod和privateBaseMethod仍然分别为public、protected和private
2. 当使用保护继承（protected Base）时，派生类中看到的基类的成员属性与基类定义不一致，原来基类中的public成员在派生类中被认为是基类的protected成员了，如示例中无法通过ProtectedDerived类的实例在类外部调用publicBaseMethod
3. 当使用私有继承（private Base）时，派生类中看到的基类成员属性同样与基类定义不一致，即原来基类中的public和protected成员在派生类中都被当成了private成员了，如示例中只能在PrivateDerived类内部调用publicBaseMethod和protectedBaseMethod
4. 在私有继承中，尽管当在外部调用public或protected成员时，其出错信息（通过clang++编译得到的）都是“'xxx' is a private member of 'Base'”，事实上并非如此：在私有继承关系中，基类的public和protected成员并非被当做基类的私有成员了，而是被当做派生类的私有成员了。如果是被当做是基类的私有成员，那么PrivateDerived中是无法访问publicBaseMethod和protectedBaseMethod的；但实际上，从PrivateDerived中可以访问publicBaseMethod和protectedBaseMethod，而SonOfPrivateDerived中无法访问它们，因此publicBaseMethod和protectedBaseMethod应该是PrivateDerived的私有成员而非Base的私有成员。

Author: Rex Shen

Created: 2014-02-16 Sun 08:24

Emacs 24.3.1 (Org mode 8.2.5h)

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