'public static final' or 'private static final' with getter?

Question

In Java, it\'s taught that variables should be kept private to enable better encapsulation, but what about static constants? This:

public static final int FO         


        

Answer 1

I'd stay with the getFoo() since it allows you to change the implementation in the future without changing the client code. As @Tomasz noted, the JVM will probably inline your current implementation, so you pay much of a performance penalty.