What does the private keyword mean exactly?

Question

Hi,
I thought I understood what "private" meant, but apparently not fully.
Can someone explain the difference between the following two chunks of code and why one compiles when the other doesn't?
class Component
  private Object loopID;
  private Container container;
  public boolean isActive()
    return loopID == container.loopID; //Doesn't Compile
    return loopID == getContainer().loopID; //Does compile
  public Container getContainer()
    return container;
class Container extends Component
}

Answer 1

Put simply, private means you can't access the
variable from outside
the class. So you cannot use the "." operator to get
access to it.
But the method can return a reference to it, so the
accessor method
allows you to return a reference to the variable.
Think of it this way:
If you want to do "x.y" or "x.y()", the
variable/method has to be public.
If the variable/method is private, you can't access
it with ".".
By the way, there is an edit button--It is in the
right corner above the message. I just added this
with it. I didn't know it was there before.
Message was edited by:
WhyNotFerzlePut simply: no. Private means that access is only allowed from within the body of the top level class where it the member or constructor is declared. Your example is just wrong on a number of levels. I can access the member of an instance using "." if I have access, and I cannot if I do not have access.