Difference between private, public, and protected inheritance

Question

What is the difference between public, private, and protected inheritance in C++?

Answer 1

Protected data members can be accessed by any classes that inherit from your class. Private data members, however, cannot. Let's say we have the following:

class MyClass {
    private:
        int myPrivateMember;    // lol
    protected:
        int myProtectedMember;
};

From within your extension to this class, referencing this.myPrivateMember won't work. However, this.myProtectedMember will. The value is still encapsulated, so if we have an instantiation of this class called myObj, then myObj.myProtectedMember won't work, so it is similar in function to a private data member.