What does the “private” modifier do?

Question

Considering \"private\" is the default access modifier for class Members, why is the keyword even needed?

Answer 1

Explicitness. I never use the default and always explicitly add the modifier.

This could be because of my Java background where the default was 'package' (roughly equivalent to 'internal' in C#) and so the difference always bothered me. I found explicitness to be preferable.

I also use ReSharper now which defaults to being explicit, so it only confirms and reinforces my bias :)