Can an interface be private/protected?

[Bindu Puvvala]

Question : An Interface can never be private or protected.
Answer: FALSE

That means an interface CAN BE private/protected. But I got a compiler error declaring an interface which is private/protected. Are there any other occasions where an interface can be declared private/protected?

[Pavel Kubal]

I see no point i declaring an interface public or protected. Where did you get this question?

[Keith Lynn]

Interfaces can be members of class definitions and can be declared private or protected there.

public class Test {
 
   private interface Sortable {
   }
 
   protected interface Searchable {
   }
 
}

Note that top-level interfaces, like top-level classes, can't be declared private or protected.
[ May 22, 2006: Message edited by: Keith Lynn ]

[Melle Lee]

Here is a program I tried. The interface can be declared private.

//: interfaces/RandomWords.java
// Implementing an interface to conform to a method.
package interfaces;
 
public class PrivateInterface {
  private interface InnerInterface {
        void f();
  }
 
  private class InnerClass1 implements InnerInterface {
         public void f() { 
             System.out.println("From InnerClass1");
         }
  }
 
  private class InnerClass2 implements InnerInterface {
         public void f() { 
             System.out.println("From InnerClass2");
         }
  }
 
  public static void main(String[] args) {
        PrivateInterface pi = new PrivateInterface();
        pi.new InnerClass1().f();
        pi.new InnerClass2().f();
  }
} 
 
/* Output:
From InnerClass1
From InnerClass2
*/

[ May 22, 2006: Message edited by: Melle Lee ]

[Bindu Puvvala]

Thanks I got the point.