what is encapsulation in java

Encapsulation in Java is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that refers to the bundling of data and methods that operate on that data within a single unit, which is called a class in Java. It is a way of hiding the implementation details of a class from outside access and only exposing a public interface that can be used to interact with the class. Encapsulation is achieved in Java by declaring the variables of a class as private and providing public setter and getter methods to modify and view the variable values.

Here are some benefits of encapsulation in Java:

• Increases modularity and maintainability by making it easier to change the implementation without affecting other parts of the code.
• Enables data abstraction, allowing objects to be treated as a single unit.
• Allows for easy addition of new methods and fields without affecting the existing code.
• Provides control over the data members and data methods of a class.
• Helps to achieve data hiding, which prevents other classes from accessing and changing fields and methods of a class.

Heres an example of encapsulation in Java:

public class Person {
    private String name;
    private int age;
    
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
    
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
    
    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }
    
    public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
    }
}

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Person person = new Person();
        person.setName("John");
        person.setAge(30);
        System.out.println("Name: " + person.getName());
        System.out.println("Age: " + person.getAge());
    }
}

In this example, the Person class has private variables name and age, and public getter and setter methods to access and modify these variables. The Main class creates a Person object and sets its name and age using the setter methods, and then prints out the values using the getter methods.