Illegal combination of modifiers: public and private

Question

I am having an issue with the following code...

/**
 * This class holds all of the information pertaining to 
 * a person's name.
 */
public class Name {

    private String first, middle, last, maiden, initials, prefix, suffix;
    private char middleInitial, firstInitial, lastInitial;
    private

    /**
     * Constructor for a Name given first, middle, and last names.
    */
    public Name(String first, String middle, String last) {

        this.first = first;
        this.middle = middle;
        this.last = last;
        this.middleInitial = middle.charAt(0);
        this.firstInitial = first.charAt(0);
        this.lastInitial = last.charAt(0);
        this.initials = String.valueOf(firstInitial + middleInitial 
            + lastInitial);
        this.maiden = null;
        this.prefix = null;
        this.suffix = null;

    }

There is more but my error is coming in my primary constructor. It is giving me the error that I have entered in the title. As you can see, both my class and constructor are both public. This shouldn't cause any issues but seems to be doing so.

Mureinik · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-19T18:08:47.603

15

You have an "orphan" private modifier before the constructor's comment:

private // Here!

/**
 * Constructor for a Name given first, middle, and last names.
 */
public Name(String first, String middle, String last) {

Just remove it, and you should be fine.

edited Jun 19 '15 at 18:08

answered Jun 19 '15 at 18:04

Mureinik

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wow, thanks. Looking at code too long today already. Little things are starting to get me. thanks – Cody Berry Jun 19 '15 at 18:08
That is why it is better to list each class member on separate line. – MaxZoom Jun 19 '15 at 18:27
1

@MaxZoom Even though I agree that listing on seperate line looks better, I don't see how listing on a seperate line avoids that issue – Brandon Ling Jun 19 '15 at 18:30

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 19 '15 at 18:03

6

There is a stray private on the third line inside the class. Since statements last until a curly brace or semicolon is encountered, the compiler thinks that this is a part of the same statement as your constructor declaration - it sees private public Name(String first, String middle, String last).

answered Jun 19 '15 at 18:03

Aasmund Eldhuset

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wow, thanks. Looking at code too long today already. Little things are starting to get me. thanks – Cody Berry Jun 19 '15 at 18:06

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 19 '15 at 18:21

After declaring all your variables, you have written the keyword private.

private String first, middle, last, maiden, initials, prefix, suffix;
private char middleInitial, firstInitial, lastInitial;
private  // Here.

Java is a freely-typed language. A line ends with a ;(semi colon) and not a newline. So

private  

public Name(String first, String middle, String last) {
    // ...
}

is considered to be one single line as:

private public Name(String first, String middle, String last) {  
  // ...
}

As you can see, your constructor has two modifiers, public and private. Which is illegal in Java.

Solution

Remove the keyword public if you want to keep the constructor private and DO NOT want other classes to instantiate it.

OR

Remove the keyword private if you want to allow other classes to instantiate it.

Illegal combination of modifiers: public and private

3 Answers3

Solution

OR