What is class encapsulation in java

Class encapsulation limits access to class members in OOP, protects data integrity, and enhances code maintainability and security. Encapsulation is achieved in Java through access modifiers, such as private (only accessible within the class), protected (class and its subclasses), default (visible to the package), public (any class). Data members are usually made private and access is controlled through public methods to ensure that the data is protected.

What is class encapsulation?

Class encapsulation is a basic concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that involves restricting access to the members (fields and methods) of a class. Through encapsulation, you can control access to these members, ensuring data integrity and security.

What is the purpose of encapsulation?

Encapsulation has the following benefits:

• Data hiding: Protect the data inside the class to prevent direct access and modification by external code.
• Data Integrity: By limiting access to critical data, you can help ensure data validity and consistency.
• Code maintainability: Make the code easier to maintain and understand by hiding the internal implementation of the class.
• Security: By controlling access to class members, you can prevent malicious code from manipulating or destroying objects.

Encapsulation in Java

In Java, encapsulation is achieved through access modifiers. There are four access modifiers:

• #private: Allows access only within the class.
• protected: Access allowed within this class and its subclasses.
• default (package visible): Allows access in all classes in this package.
• public: Allows access in any class.

Common practice is to make data members private to ensure they are protected. These members can then be accessed in a controlled manner through public methods. For example:

<code class="java">public class Person {
    private String name;
    private int age;

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
}</code>

In this example, the name and age fields are private and can only be accessed via getName() and setName() method access. This ensures that only these methods can modify the name value, thus maintaining data integrity.

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