Protected access modifier in Java - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

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Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 code output

intermediate

Output of accessing protected member in subclass

What is the output of this Java code?

Java

package pack1;

public class Parent {
    protected String message = "Hello from Parent";
}

package pack1;

public class Child extends Parent {
    public void printMessage() {
        System.out.println(message);
    }
}

package pack1;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Child c = new Child();
        c.printMessage();
    }
}

A Hello from Parent

B No output

C Runtime error: NullPointerException

D Compilation error: message has protected access in Parent

💻 code output

intermediate

Accessing protected member from different package subclass

What will be the output of this code when run?

Java

package pack1;

public class Parent {
    protected String message = "Hello from Parent";
}

package pack2;

import pack1.Parent;

public class Child extends Parent {
    public void printMessage() {
        System.out.println(message);
    }
}

package pack2;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Child c = new Child();
        c.printMessage();
    }
}

A Compilation error: message has protected access in Parent

B Runtime error: NullPointerException

C Hello from Parent

D No output

💻 code output

advanced

Accessing protected member from non-subclass in different package

What will happen when this code runs?

Java

package pack1;

public class Parent {
    protected String message = "Hello from Parent";
}

package pack2;

import pack1.Parent;

public class NonChild {
    public void printMessage() {
        Parent p = new Parent();
        System.out.println(p.message);
    }
}

package pack2;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        NonChild nc = new NonChild();
        nc.printMessage();
    }
}

A No output

B Compilation error: message has protected access in Parent

C Runtime error: NullPointerException

D Hello from Parent

💻 code output

advanced

Accessing protected member via object reference of superclass

What is the output of this code?

Java

package pack1;

public class Parent {
    protected String message = "Hello from Parent";
}

package pack1;

public class Child extends Parent {
    public void printMessage() {
        Parent p = new Parent();
        System.out.println(p.message);
    }
}

package pack1;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Child c = new Child();
        c.printMessage();
    }
}

A Compilation error: message has protected access in Parent

B Runtime error: NullPointerException

C No output

D Hello from Parent

🧠 conceptual

expert

Protected access modifier and package boundaries

Which statement about the protected access modifier in Java is TRUE?

A A protected member is accessible only within its own package and not by subclasses in other packages.

B A protected member is accessible by any class in any package without restriction.

C A protected member is accessible within its own package and also by subclasses even if they are in different packages.

D A protected member is accessible only by subclasses in the same package, but not in different packages.