What is the difference between access specifiers and access modifiers?

Question

In Java, are access specifiers and access modifiers the same thing?

Answer 1

According to me, yes, both terms refer to the same thing and are used interchangeably.

Answer 2

That JDI reference is the only place I have ever seen the term 'access specifier' used in a Java specification. Even there, public/protected/private/package are also called 'modifiers'. There's really no reason to ever use the term 'access specifier' in Java, it is clearly just a mistake on one page out of many thousands.

Answer 3

The term Access specifier used by c++ programmers not in java. In java Officially we use Access Modifier.

For example: when we declare a class with private, static the compiler clearly shows the error message as follows:

Answer 4

Referring to the Sun Java Docs they both seem to be the same:

• Access Modifier
• Search for access specifier on this page.