> Java (and C++) have a rudimentary form of access control where members can be marked private ... ostensibly in order to perform validity checks on proposed mo

> Java (and C++) have a rudimentary form of access control where members can be marked private ... ostensibly in order to perform validity checks on proposed modification. This is not the biggest reason I generally mark members as private. I tend to develop immutable classes wherever possible. I use private to indicate what is exempt from requiring API documentation.