The Java languages gives you the choice of whether to use getters/setters or not. You added a good example. The main reason I love getters/setters is they are a

The Java languages gives you the choice of whether to use getters/setters or not. You added a good example. The main reason I love getters/setters is they are a 'hook' to add any code (like logging) if you want to detect when a variable is being read/written.