question from jargon

[kashif sohail]

A class design requires that a particular member variable must be accessible for direct access by any
subclasses of this class, but otherwise not by classes which are not members of the same package.
What should be done to achieve this?
A.The variable should be marked public
B.The variable should be marked private
C.The variable should be marked protected
D.The variable should have no special access modifier
E.The variable should be marked private and an accessor method provided
it says right answer is c
but i think its d
any comments
thanx in anticipation
kashif

[Anand Rama]

The variable should be marked protected. This makes it available only to the subclasses.

[Ipsita Naravane]

kashif,
the answer is 'c' and here's why. When you mark a variable protected all subclasses have access to the variable.
When no access modifier is provided, the default is package, which means that a variable without an access modifier will be available to all classes within that package(may not necessarily be subclasses). Hence 'D' is a wrong choice.
Thanks
Shilpa