Content deleted Content added
m Reverted edits by 119.156.31.204 (talk) to last version by Technopat |
m In last sentence of first paragraph, made "state" link to article "State (computer science)". |
||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Bundling of data}}
In software systems, '''encapsulation''' refers to the bundling of data with the mechanisms or methods that operate on the data. It may also refer to the limiting of direct access to some of that data, such as an object's components.<ref name="Rogers01" /> Encapsulation allows developers to present a consistent and usable interface which is independent of how a system is implemented internally. As one example, encapsulation can be used to hide the values or state of a structured data object inside a [[Class (computer programming)|class]], preventing direct access to them by clients in a way that could expose hidden implementation details or violate [[State (computer science)|state]] invariance maintained by the methods.
All [[object-oriented programming]] (OOP) systems support encapsulation {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}, but encapsulation is not unique to OOP. Implementations of [[abstract data types]], [[module (programming)|modules]], and [[library (computing)|libraries]], among other systems, also offer encapsulation. The similarity has been explained by programming language theorists in terms of [[existential types]].<ref>{{harvnb|Pierce|2002|loc=§ 24.2 Data Abstraction with Existentials}}</ref>
| |||