I think you are looking at the problem from the wrong perspective: is
not calling a method from another instance, but is about were the
method is defined. The protected/private access modifiers are quite
usefull when dealing with class hierarchies.

./alex
--
.w( the_mindstorm )p.


On 5/31/06, Paul D. Kraus <paul.kraus / gmail.com> wrote:
> Can someone give me an example of when a private method would be more
> appropaiate then a protected one?
>
> I understand the definition of the two but I don't quit understand the uses.
>
> A protected method is only accessible from other objects derived from the
> same class.
> A private method is basically the same thing but can only be called by the
> current object.
>
> *shrug* how are those two things different.
> When would you ever have an instance that is going to call a method from
> another instance?
>
>