Encapsulation (computer programming): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:27, 10 March 2015

Revision as of 14:27, 10 March 2015

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Encapsulation is the packing of data and functions into a single component. ThisThe meansfeatures thatof youencapsulation are ablesupported tousing capture the codeclasses in amost typeobject-oriented ofprogramming cagelanguages, andalthough thenother openalternatives thealso cage when you need itexist. TheIt termallows programmersselective usehiding isof feedingproperties theand lions.methods Programmersin findan thisobject toby bebuilding importantan toimpenetrable referwall to itprotect asthe thatcode asfrom itaccidental is specific to OOP languagescorruption.

The features of encapsulation are supported using classes in most object-oriented programming languages, although other alternatives also exist. It allows selective hiding of properties and methods in an object by building an impenetrable wall to protect the code from accidental corruption.

In programming languages, <!-- [[object-oriented programming language]]--> <!-- and related fields, like [[OODMBS]],--> '''encapsulation''' is used to refer to one of two related but distinct notions, and sometimes to the combination<ref>Michael Lee Scott, ''Programming language pragmatics'', Edition 2, Morgan Kaufmann, 2006, ISBN 0-12-633951-1, p. 481: "Encapsulation mechanisms enable the programmer to group data and the subroutines that operate on them together in one place, and to hide irrelevant details from the users of an abstraction."</ref><ref name=Dale>Nell B. Dale, Chip Weems, ''Programming and problem solving with Java'', Edition 2, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2007, ISBN 0-7637-3402-0, p. 396</ref> thereof: