What's the Difference Between Protected and Protected Internal Access Modifiers in C#?

In-depth understanding of Protected and Protected Internal access modifiers in C#

In C#'s access modifiers, the difference between "protected" and "protected internal" is often confusing. This article will clarify their subtle differences.

Protected access

The "protected" keyword restricts access to a type or member to within the same class or structure, including inherited classes. It ensures data privacy within the class hierarchy.

Internal access

The "internal" keyword allows any code within the same assembly to access a type or member. However, code in other assemblies cannot access it directly.

Protected Internal Access

Different from superficial redundancy, "protected internal" combines the protection mechanisms of "protected" and "internal". It extends the accessibility of protected members to include:

• Any code within the same assembly can access
• Accessible from derived classes in different assemblies (as long as the access is through an instance of the derived class type)

Essentially, "protected internal" provides broader access to derived classes, even across assembly boundaries. It provides a compromise between the more restrictive "protected" and the more open "internal" modifiers.

Access modifier summary

For easy reference, here is a summary of all access modifiers:

• Private: limited to internal access within the containing class or structure
• Protected: accessed within the same class or a derived class in the same assembly
• Internal: Access
within the same assembly
• Protected Internal: accessed within the same assembly, or accessed from a derived class in a different assembly
• Public: Any code that references this assembly can access
• Private Protected: Access restricted to containing classes or derived classes in the current assembly (available in C# 7.2 and above)

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