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<qhelp>

<overview>

<p>A non-final or non-static field that is not declared <code>private</code>,

but is not accessed outside of its declaring type, may decrease code maintainability. This is because

a field that is accessible from outside the class that it is declared in tends to restrict the class

to a particular implementation.

</p>

</overview>

<recommendation>

<p>In the spirit of encapsulation, it is generally advisable to choose the

most restrictive access modifier (<code>private</code>) for a field, unless

there is a good reason to increase its visibility.

</p>

</recommendation>

<references>

<li>

J. Bloch, <em>Effective Java (second edition)</em>,

Item 13.

Addison-Wesley, 2008.

</li>

<li>

The Java Tutorials:

<a href="https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/accesscontrol.html">Controlling Access to Members of a Class</a>.

</li>

</references>

</qhelp>