Import concerns revisited

[Walter Bright]

Lars Ivar Igesund wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
> 
>> Lars Ivar Igesund wrote:
>>> Well, who did ever say that was a good idea, everything public by
>>> default? ;)
>> I did <g>.
> 
> Right :) I don't agree.

Let me explain why I think default public is a good idea.

It reduces clutter in sample, example, and quick programs. Access 
security is an advanced feature, one that's invaluable for a complex 
project, but is just in the way for smaller ones.

I don't mind at all when crafting a carefully designed, reusable module 
that 'private' needs to be explicit. It helps document the intention, 
and lends the impression that the designer did put some thought into the 
code.

But when writing illustrative sample code, I feel that having to add in 
'public's is distracting from the point (unless, of course, the point is 
about how access control works!). I see this a lot in sample C++ code, 
and it is distracting, to me anyway.

And it's just plain irritating when writing smaller programs where 
access control is quite irrelevant.