What is the difference between 'protected' and 'protected internal'?
.net, access-modifiers, c#
Solution
The "protected internal" access modifier is a union of both the "protected" and "internal" modifiers.
From MSDN, Access Modifiers (C# Programming Guide):
protected:
The type or member can be accessed only by code in the same class or struct, or in a class that is derived from that class.
internal:
The type or member can be accessed by any code in the same assembly, but not from another assembly.
protected internal:
The type or member can be accessed by any code in the assembly in which it is declared, OR from within a derived class in another assembly. Access from another assembly must take place within a class declaration that derives from the class in which the protected internal element is declared, and it must take place through an instance of the derived class type.
Note that: `protected internal` means "`protected` OR `internal`" (any class in the same assembly, or any derived class - even if it is in a different assembly).
...and for completeness:
private:
The type or member can be accessed only by code in the same class or struct.
public:
The type or member can be accessed by any other code in the same assembly or another assembly that references it.
private protected:
Access is limited to the containing class or types derived from the containing class within the current assembly. (Available since C# 7.2)
Problem
Can someone please explain the difference between the `protected` and `protected internal` modifiers in C#? It looks like their behavior is identical.