The protected access modifier is between the private and public and is accessible from within the class in which it is declared, and from within any class derived from the class that declared this member.
Example:
namespace WFA
{
public class A
{
protected int x = 1;
private int y;
}
public class B : A
{
B()
{
x = 2; // can access x, but cannot access y
A a = new A();
a.x = 1; // Error: Cannot access protected member 'WFA.A.x' via a
qualifier of type 'WFA.A'; the qualifier must be of type 'WFA.B' (or derived
from it)
}
}
