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?

Answer 1

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.