Encapsulation

What is Encapsulation?

• Bundling data and methods into a single unit, and hiding the data from other classes.
• It restricts direct access to some of an object’s components and can prevent the accidental modification of data.

Key Concepts

1. Data Hiding:

• Encapsulation allows the internal state of an object to be hidden from the outside. This means that the data of a class can only be accessed through methods (getters and setters).
• This protects the integrity of the data and prevents unauthorized access.

2. Access Modifiers:

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• Java provides access modifiers to set the visibility of classes, methods, and variables:
• private: The member is accessible only within its own class.
• public: The member is accessible from any other class.
• protected: The member is accessible within its own package and by subclasses.
• default (no modifier): The member is accessible only within its own package.

3. Getters and Setters:

• Getters are methods that retrieve the value of a private variable.
• Setters are methods that set or update the value of a private variable.
• Using getters and setters allows you to control how variables are accessed and modified.

public class Person {
    // Private variables (data hiding)
    private String name;
    private int age;

    // Constructor
    public Person(String name, int age) {
        this.name = name;
        this.age = age;
    }

    // Getter for name
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    // Setter for name
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    // Getter for age
    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }

    // Setter for age
    public void setAge(int age) {
        if (age > 0) { // Example of validation
            this.age = age;
        } else {
            System.out.println("Age must be positive.");
        }
    }
}