Encapsulation (computer programming): Difference between revisions

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== General definition ==

In general, encapsulation is one of the four fundamentals of OOP ([[object-oriented programming]]). Encapsulation is used to hide the variablesvalues or somethingstate of a structured data object inside a class, preventing unauthorized parties direct access to usethem. SoPublicly the publicaccessible methods likeare gettergenerally andprovided setterin accessthe class (so-called it''getters'' and ''setters'') to access the values, and other client classes call these methods forto accessingretrieve and modify the values within the object.

This mechanism is not unique to object-oriented programming. Implementations of [[abstract data types]], e.g. [[module (programming)|modules]], offer a similar form of encapsulation. This similarity stems from the fact that both notions rely on the same mathematical fundament of an [[existential type]].<ref>Pierce (2002), Section 24.2 "Data Abstraction with Existentials"</ref>