Variables in PHP: public vs. private

Hi there! I'm just starting to get in touch with oo programming in PHP. Now I've got a quite simple question, I guess... In an example in the PHP-help, I found a class definition with accessor functions like dummy->get_some_variable(); But AFAIK (and see ;)), variables in PHP in fact are never private, but always public, at least within the current script. So what would be the sense in having this kind of functions? Readability? Just a fake? Or can I declare variables as private? (this would be the best in my eyes, indeed) Thanx alot, Kiko -- It's not a bug, it's a feature. christoph starkmann mailto:kiko@nfq.de http://www.gruppe-69.com/ --