MW> Something that I am not quite clear on is the 
 MW> difference between private and protected specifiers 
 MW> within a class. Can someone explain the difference 
 MW> between these? Also when would each be used? 
Private does not allow anyone to use that function/variable except that 
class.  Protected is the same except that derived classes have access, too.
class base
{
private:   int mine;
protected: int ours;
public:    int everyones;
};
class derived : public base
{
  void foo()
  {
    mine      = 1; // invalid - no access
    ours      = 2; // valid - have acess
    everyones = 3; // valid - have access
  }
};
void bar(base& b)
{
  b.mine      = 4; // invalid - no access
  b.ours      = 5; // invalid - no access
  b.everyones = 6; // valid - have access
}
Hope this helps,
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