'public static final' or 'private static final' with getter?

Question

In Java, it\'s taught that variables should be kept private to enable better encapsulation, but what about static constants? This:

public static final int FO         


        

Answer 1

Getter is pointless here and most likely will be inlined by the JVM. Just stick with public constant.

The idea behind encapsulation is to protect unwanted changes of a variable and hide the internal representation. With constants it doesn't make much sense.