accessor method

A method specifically designed to provide access to a private attribute of a class. By convention, we name accessors with a get prefix followed by the name of the attribute being accessed. For instance, the accessor for an attribute named speed would be getSpeed. By making an attribute private, we prevent objects of other classes from altering its value other than through a mutator method. Accessors are used both to grant safe access to the value of a private attribute and to protect attributes from inspection by objects of other classes. The latter goal is achieved by choosing an appropriate visibility for the accessor.