When defining a derived class, why is the base class marked "public?"

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Difference between private, public and protected inheritance in C++

One of the examples in my lecture notes is

class TransportShip : public GameUnit {
    int capacity;

    public:
         ...
}

Why do we need the "public" modifier before the name of the base class? What would it mean if it wasn't there?

Read the chapter in your C++ book about public, protected and private inheritance. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Mar 03 '12 at 23:53
http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/private-inheritance.html — Lightness Races in Orbit, Mar 03 '12 at 23:54
We don't actually have a textbook -_- Thanks for the link though — i love stackoverflow, Mar 04 '12 at 00:04
Books like "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" is a good starting point. — quantum, Mar 04 '12 at 01:32

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 03 '12 at 23:53

It would mean that the base class is private.

With a class, the base and all members are private by default. With a struct, the base and all members are public by default.

If the base was private, then only members of the class would be able to access members of the base.

1 Answers1