Class Access Modifiers

Has there been any discussion on access modifiers for classes? I looked through the existing RFCs and searched through old discussions on the mailing list but didn't come up with anything. Specifically, I think it would be beneficial (for framework developers in particular) if classes could be marked as public, private, etc. I haven't really thought through exact definitions on how each modifier would restrict but here is a use case. A developer is working on an object-oriented framework that uses namespaces and uses classes extensively. He considers many of the classes to be for internal use only, that is, they will only be used by the internal workings of the framework core, not by any web application that somebody builds using his framework. That being the case, the developer would like to restrict access to certain classes so that they can only be accessed in certain situations. Proposal (after five minutes of thought) 1. Public - A class can be instantiated or called statically from anywhere. For reasons of backward compatibility a class without any modifier would be considered public. 2. Internal - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the same root namespace. If I have a class Core\Mvc\View, only from within a class sharing the same root namespace (ex: Core\Html\Textbox) would I be able to access the "View" class. 3. Private - A class can only be instantiated/called from within the exact same namespace. Example, class Core\Mvc\View could only be accessed from a class in the Core\Mvc namespace (ex: Core\Mvc\Controller). What do people think? I'm not too concerned with the exact three I listed above, but more and more I think it would be wise if there were a way to restrict the accessibility of classes between namespaces. Jarrod Nettles Application Developer - Technology INCCRRA p 309.829.5327 - f 309.828.1808 This e-mail message may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not disclose, use, disseminate, distribute, copy or rely upon this message or attachment in any way. If you received this e-mail message in error, please return by forwarding the message and its attachments to the sender. INCCRRA does not accept liability for any errors, omissions, corruption or virus in the contents of this message or any attachments that arises as a result of e-mail transmission. Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail