Encapsulation (computer programming): Difference between revisions

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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" /> Essentially, encapsulation prevents external code from being concerned with the internal workings of an object.

Encapsulation allows developers to present a consistent interface that is independent of its internal implementation. As one example, encapsulation can be used to hide the values or state of a structured data object inside a [[Class (computer programming)|class]],. preventingThis directprevents accessclients tofrom themdirectly byaccessing clientsthis information in a way that could expose hidden implementation details or violate [[State (computer science)|state]] invariance maintained by the methods.

ItEncapsulation also encourages programmers to put all the code that is concerned with a certain set of data in the same class, which organizes it for easy comprehension by other programmers. Encapsulation is a technique that encourages [[Coupling (computer programming)|decoupling]].

All [[object-oriented programming]] (OOP) systems support encapsulation,<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)? |url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/object-oriented-programming-OOP |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=App Architecture |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Encapsulation in Object Oriented Programming (OOPS) |url=https://www.enjoyalgorithms.com/blog/encapsulation-in-oops/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.enjoyalgorithms.com}}</ref> 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>

== Meaning ==

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Some programming language researchers and academics use the first meaning alone or in combination with the second as a distinguishing feature of [[object-oriented programming]], while some programming languages that provide [[closure (computer programming)|lexical closures]] view encapsulation as a feature of the language [[orthogonality#Computer science|orthogonal]] to object orientation.

The second definition is motivated by the factreflects that in many object-oriented languages, and other related fields, the components are not hidden automatically and this can be overridden;. thusThus, [[information hiding]] is defined as a separate notion by those who prefer the second definition.<!-- this is based on all the refs given above, so no inline cite here-->

The features of encapsulation are supported using [[class (computer programming)|class]]es in most object-oriented languages, although other alternatives also exist.

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== Information hiding ==

{{Main|Information hiding}}

Under the definition that encapsulation "can be used to hide data members and member functions", the internal representation of an [[object (computer science)|object]] is generally hidden from view outside of the object's definition. Typically, only the object's own methods can directly inspect or manipulate its fields. Hiding the internals of the object protects its integrity by preventing users from setting the internal data of the component into an invalid or inconsistent state. A supposed benefit of encapsulation is that it can reduce system complexity, and thus increase [[robustness (computer science)|robustness]], by allowing the developer to limit the interdependencies between software components.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}}

Some languages like [[Smalltalk]] and [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]] only allow access via object methods, but most others (e.g., [[C++]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], [[Delphi (programming language)|Delphi]] or [[Java (programming language)|Java]]{{sfn|Bloch|2018|loc=Chapter §4 Item 15 Minimize the accessibility of classes and members|pp=73-77}}) offer the programmer a degree ofsome control over what is hidden, typically via keywords like <code>public</code> and <code>private</code>.<ref name=Pierce/> ISO C++ standard refers to <code>protected</code>, <code>private</code> and <code>public</code> as "[[access specifiers]]" and that they do not "hide any information". Information hiding is accomplished by furnishing a compiled version of the source code that is interfaced via a header file.

Almost always, there is a way to override such protection &ndash; usually via [[Reflection (computer programming)|reflection]] API (Ruby, Java, C#, etc.), sometimes by mechanism like [[name mangling]] ([[Python (programming language)|Python]]), or special keyword usage like <code>friend</code> in C++. Systems that provide object-level [[capability-based security]] (adhering to the [[object-capability model]]) are an exception, and guarantee strong encapsulation.