What might the 'friend' keyword inside a class definition do?

What might the 'friend' keyword inside a class definition do?

• A. Declare another class that inherits all members
• B. Limit the class's visibility to certain functions
• C. Grant a function or another class special access to private members
• D. Declare a member function of the class

Answer: (C)

The 'friend' keyword in a class definition allows a function or another class to have special access to private members of the class. This means that the 'friend' class or function can access and modify private data members, which are not accessible to other classes or functions. Option A is incorrect because the 'friend' keyword does not declare another class, it only grants access to the private members of a particular class. Option B is incorrect because the 'friend' keyword does not limit the class's visibility, it grants access. Option D is incorrect because declaring a member function would not require the use of the 'friend' keyword.

The 'friend' keyword in a class definition allows a function or another class to have special access to private members of the class. This means that the 'friend' class or function can access and modify private data members, which are not accessible to other classes or functions. Option A is incorrect because the 'friend' keyword does not declare another class, it only grants access to the private members of a particular class. Option B is incorrect because the 'friend' keyword does not limit the class's visibility, it grants access. Option D is incorrect because declaring a member function would not require the use of the 'friend' keyword.