What is the difference between access modifiers & specifier?

Question

Hi Wish you all a happy new year 2014... I want to know the difference b/w modifier and specifier? Also what is static and void? Are they specifiers or modifiers?

Vulpes · Answer

In the C# Specification (the official description of the C# language) public internal protected protected internal and private are referred to as 'access modifiers'. Other keywords such as static readonly const and new are described simply as 'modifiers'. AFAICS the term 'specifier' is not used at all in the specification itself but you sometimes see it used in documentation etc. as another word for 'modifier'. So in the context of C# modifier and specifier mean the same thing though the former should be preferred. 'void' is technically a type (an alias for System.Void) see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.void(v=vs.110).aspx However curiously if you try to use System.Void in a C# application you get a compile time error.

Jaganathan Bantheswaran · Answer

Thanks Wish you the same Suma. Access specifier specifies where a variable can be accessed from. For example public private are specifiers because it says that a class can be accessed only within the class [incase of private] or outsite the class. Access modifier specifies how variables should [not] be accessed. For example readonly volatile are modifiers because it says that the variable can not be modified [incase od readonly]. [Updated] Static is access modifier & void is a type.