What is difference between access specifiers and access modifiers in java?

In Java, the terms “access specifiers” and “access modifiers” are often used interchangeably to refer to the same concept. Both terms essentially mean the same thing and are used to control the visibility or accessibility of classes, methods, variables, and other members of a class. These specifiers or modifiers determine which other classes can access a particular class or its members.

In Java, there are four access specifiers or access modifiers:

1. public: Members declared as public are accessible from any class. They have the widest scope among all access specifiers. For example, a public method can be accessed from any other class.
2. protected: Members declared as protected are accessible within the same package and subclasses, even if they are in different packages. This specifier allows a member to be visible to subclasses and other classes in the same package.
3. default (no modifier): Members with no explicit modifier (also known as package-private) are accessible within the same package but not from outside the package. This is the default access level in Java.
4. private: Members declared as private are accessible only within the same class. They have the narrowest scope among all access specifiers and are used to hide the implementation details of a class.

These access specifiers/modifiers are used to implement encapsulation and data hiding, ensuring that sensitive data is hidden from the outside world and only accessible through public methods (getters and setters).

In summary, access specifiers (or access modifiers) in Java are keywords that determine the visibility or accessibility of classes and their members. They allow developers to control which parts of a program can access specific data or behavior, promoting encapsulation and information hiding. Different access specifiers provide varying levels of visibility and access control within Java programs.