ENCAPSULATION IN JAVA

 ENCAPSULATION IN JAVA

    Encapsulation is a fundamental concept in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) that allows developers to create objects that hide their implementation details and expose only the necessary information to the outside world. In Java, encapsulation is achieved using access modifiers, such as private, protected, and public, which determine the level of access to a class, its methods, and its properties.

    Encapsulation is essential because it provides a level of abstraction that allows developers to change the implementation details of an object without affecting the code that uses it. This is particularly important in large software systems where changes can have widespread effects.

Example of Encapsulation in Java:

    Let's consider an example of encapsulation in Java using a simple class called "Person". This class contains two private properties, "name" and "age", and two public methods, "getName()" and "getAge()", which return the values of the private properties. This ensures that the data is only accessible through the public methods and cannot be directly modified from outside the class.

public class Person {

        private String name;

        private int age;

        public String getName() {

              return name;

        }

        public void setName(String name) {

              this.name = name;

        }

        public int getAge() {

              return age;

        }

        public void setAge(int age) {

              this.age = age;

        }

}

    In the example above, we can see that the properties "name" and "age" are marked as private, meaning they cannot be accessed directly from outside the class. Instead, we use the public methods "getName()" and "getAge()" to retrieve the values of these properties, and the public methods "setName()" and "setAge()" to modify them.

Conclusion:

    Encapsulation is a key principle in OOP that allows developers to create robust and maintainable software systems. By hiding the implementation details of an object and exposing only the necessary information through public methods, we can create objects that are more flexible, easier to modify, and less prone to errors.

    In Java, encapsulation is achieved using access modifiers to restrict access to the properties and methods of a class. Private properties are only accessible within the class, while public methods provide controlled access to the private properties from outside the class.

    By using encapsulation effectively, we can create objects that are more secure, more maintainable, and easier to use, making it an essential skill for any Java developer.