Kapsulaatiot

Kapsulaatiot refers to the process of encapsulation, a common technique in software development and other fields. In software, encapsulation is the bundling of data and the methods that operate on that data into a single unit. This unit is often referred to as a class or an object. The primary purpose of encapsulation is to hide the internal state and implementation details of an object from the outside world, exposing only a defined interface for interaction.

This principle promotes data security by preventing direct access to internal variables, which could lead to unintended modifications or corruption. Instead, access to and modification of the data is controlled through well-defined methods, often called getters and setters. This controlled access allows for greater flexibility; the internal implementation can be changed without affecting other parts of the program that use the object, as long as the public interface remains the same.

Encapsulation is a core concept of object-oriented programming (OOP) and is closely related to other OOP principles like abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism. By limiting dependencies on internal details, encapsulation contributes to modularity, maintainability, and reusability of code, making software development more robust and efficient. The term can also be applied in other contexts, such as in biology for protective coverings or in manufacturing for product packaging, but its most prevalent use is within computer science.