Access Modifiers

Hylang uses four access modifiers. The current bootstrap supports normal class-local access rules plus subclass access for protected.

Modifier	Visibility
public	Visible everywhere
private	Restricted to the declaring class
internal	Visible within the current compilation
protected	Visible in the declaring class and its subclasses

Example

class Account {
    private int balance;          // only this class
    internal string owner;        // visible in the same compilation
    public bool isActive;         // visible everywhere

    public Account(string name, int initial) {
        this.owner = name;
        this.balance = initial;
        this.isActive = true;
    }

    public int GetBalance() {
        return this.balance;
    }

    private void Audit() {
        // internal helper
    }
}

Inheritance note

private members are not visible from derived classes. protected members are.

namespace Banking {
    public class Account {
        protected int balance;

        public Account() {
            balance = 10;
        }
    }

    public class SavingsAccount : Account {
        public int CurrentBalance() {
            return balance;
        }
    }
}

Static members

Both fields and methods can be static. Static members belong to the class rather than an instance:

class MathHelper {
    public static int Square(int n) {
        return n * n;
    }
}

// Called without creating an object:
int result = MathHelper.Square(5);