Which access modifier should you use for constants?

[Ameem Shaik]

I have seen two different suggestions:
HFJ recommends

public static final

However another source I am looking at suggests

  private static final  

Which is recommended? To me, it makes more sense to use coderanch, since the value is already marked final, and cannot be changed anyways. But I am a beginner programmer, so I don't know much yet.

Thanks

[Vinoth Kumar Kannan]

You are correct, final declares the variable not to be changed, but what the access specifiers(public/private/protected) do are completely different. With use of them, you can say which other classes can access you final variable - simply put the scope of the variable.
Try a google with 'Access Specifiers Java' and in no time you can learn them.

[Abimaran Kugathasan]

Ameem Shaik,

Access modifier and constant are not related. Access modifier is there to give the scope of that variable. If your variable wanted to be access beyond the class/package level, use access modifier appropriately.

[Arun C. Giridharan]

Since you specify it's constant

i suggest you move on with public .....Hopefully it changes with requirements.

[Ameem Shaik]

Thanks for the quick replies. It seems I misunderstood my texts, but it is clear to me now.

[Jesper de Jong]

There is no "yes or no" answer to this question. Whether you make a constant public or private depends on how it's used, and where it needs to be accessible. You shouldn't always make a constant public or always make it private.

To minimize dependencies between classes, you should by default make things private, and only make them protected or public when there is a reason to do so.

[Darryl Burke]

Ameem Shaik wrote:To me, it makes more sense to use coderanch, since the value is already marked final, and cannot be changed anyways.

As already said, public/private and final are orthogonal. But understand this: the final keyword only ensures that the variable can be assigned exactly once: either at declaration or in a constructor. It does NOT ensure that the state of the referred object cannot be changed. So if your final variable refers to a primitive or any immutable class (eg String) it doesn't really matter. But consider, for example, that your variable refers to a JFrame. Making it public would allow another class to set the frame's size / location / visible properties and/or to add listeners like WindowListener / WindowFocusListener or worse still, to substitute the entire contents of the frame. All the final keyword would do is prevent the variable from being assigned to a new JFrame -- not much use, that.

[Shanky Sohar]

use public static final if you want to access the constant outside the class and package....
private static final

[Campbell Ritchie]

You can also use package-private (default) or protected access.