Private members in Enum Java

Question

public class Test {

    public static enum MyEnum {
        valueA(1),valueb(2),valuec(3),valued(4);
        private int i;
        private Object o;

        private MyEnum(int number) {
             i = number;
        }

        public void set(Object o) {
            this.o = o;
        }

        public Object get() {
            return o;
        }


     } 

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println(MyEnum.valueA.i); // private
    }
}

output: 1

Why 1 is shown if it a private member in enum?

See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1801718/why-can-outer-java-classes-access-inner-class-private-members — theon, Mar 09 '13 at 16:03
private means visible to the class only, but this is exactly what you have. — cara, Mar 09 '13 at 16:06

Reimeus · Answer 1 · 2013-03-09T16:40:07.027

5

Outer classes have full access to the member variables of their inner classes, therefore i is visible in the Test class.

In contrast, if MyEnum was external to the Test class, the compiler would complain about the visibility of i,

edited Mar 09 '13 at 16:40

answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:03

Reimeus

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score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:04

3

It's (i) a member field being referenced within the same class (MyEnum); no access modifier prevents that - the private access modifier defined on i will prevent it's visibility outside this class. Suggested Reading

answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:04

Scorpion

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score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

1

private access from a containing type to a nested type is permitted, see Why are private fields on an enum type visible to the containing class?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

Community

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answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:13

hflzh

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:09

0

vlaueA is considered a static variable so you can call it within MyEnum since i in the same enum whice play the same as a class so MyEnum can access valueA which can access i

answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:09

Youans

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:13

0

Outer class will have the access to inner class member even if it is private because you have defined main method inside the outer class.

answered Mar 09 '13 at 16:13

AmitG

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Private members in Enum Java

5 Answers5