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In the following code: ```internal class Outer { ...
# getting-started
l
In the following code:
Copy code
internal class Outer {
    class Inner
}
is the 
Inner
class 
public
or also 
internal
?
What about `companion object`s?
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internal class MyClass {
    companion object {
        val myValue: Int
    }
}
Is the 
companion object
and the 
myValue
internal or public?
IntelliJ documentation on hover shows in both cases a 
public
modifier
I.e. 
public Inner
and 
public companion object
, and also 
public myValue
.
In the case of 
Inner
, I would expect that it's really public, as it's not a member of 
Outer
(it's just namespacing, it's not a Kotlin 
inner class
)
For the 
companion object
I'm not sure, conceptually it's also rather namespacing and not really a member of 
MyClass
j
image.png
🙏 1
s
You might be overthinking it. They’re public unless declared otherwise. But they are members of the class, so things that can’t see the class can’t see its members, regardless of their individual visibility.
💯 2
l
I just thought they weren't really "members"
j
They are members, the parent declaration of 
Inner
is 
Outer
🙂
same goes for the companion object
l
Ok, that sounds much simpler than I thought 🙂 Thank you for the explanation!
👍 1
j
however, you can make all the methods/properties/constructors of 
Outer
internal
and keep 
Inner
public
l
Yes, but it doesn't change anything as long as 
Outer
itself is 
internal
.
Then every member has also automatically 
internal
visibility
(effectively)
j
Yeah, of course, you have to make the 
Outer
class public. But since all its members (expect 
Inner
) would be internal, it would essentially act as a namespace
l
Ah ok, yes 👍
j
in the eyes of your user
tho, packages are probably more appropriate for that 🙂
l
I'm thinking more in the direction of restricting access
Because I have a library where everything is public
And I'm trying to figure out, what I have to declare as 
internal
to restrict the access as much as possible (i.e. to the actual current usage of the API; all client apps are also available to me)
j
FYI, you might find some interest in the explicit API mode: https://kotlinlang.org/docs/whatsnew14.html#explicit-api-mode-for-library-authors
l
Yes, unfortunately I'm on Android and there it will be working starting with 1.9.0
😩 1
j
I didn't know about that limitation 😮
at least, there is a workaround
l
It's not really feasible
Even with the workaround you will get the tests all red in the IDE
Thank you again for the quick help!
👍 1
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