What Are Access Modifiers?

Access modifiers in Python control the visibility and accessibility of class members (variables and methods). Python provides three levels of access control:

Unlike some other languages, Python does not enforce access modifiers strictly but uses naming conventions to indicate intent.

1. Public Access Modifier

• Members are accessible from anywhere.

Example:

class Person:
   def __init__(self, name):
       self.name = name  # public variable
p = Person("Simran")
print(p.name)

Output:

Simran

2. Protected Access Modifier

• Prefix with a single underscore: _name
• Accessible within the class and its subclasses.
• Treated as a convention only (not enforced).

Example:

class Person:
   def __init__(self, name):
       self._name = name  # protected variable
class Student(Person):
   def show(self):
       print("Name:", self._name)
s = Student("Dharmendra")
s.show()

Output:

Name: Dharmendra

3. Private Access Modifier

• Prefix with double underscore: __name
• Not accessible outside the class.
• Internally name-mangled as _ClassName__variable.

Example:

class Account:
   def __init__(self, balance):
       self.__balance = balance  # private variable
   def show_balance(self):
       print("Balance:", self.__balance)
a = Account(1000)
a.show_balance()

Output:

Balance: 1000

Attempting to Access Private Variable

print(a.__balance)

Output:

AttributeError: 'Account' object has no attribute '__balance'

Accessing Private Variable (Not Recommended)

print(a._Account__balance)

Output:

1000

Summary Table