Encapsulation is one of the principles of object-oriented programming and it is a way to hide the internal details or implementation details of an object and exposing only what is necessary.
In C#, encapsulation is achieved using access modifiers such as public, private, protected, and internal. These access modifiers control the accessibility of members (variables, methods, properties) of a class.
The private access modifier is used to hide members from outside the class. It means that these members can only be accessed within the same class. This is the default access modifier for class members if no access modifier is specified.
The public access modifier is used to make members accessible from outside the class. It means that these members can be accessed from anywhere in the program.
The protected access modifier is similar to private, but it allows members to be accessed within the same class and its derived classes. It is often used in inheritance scenarios.
The internal access modifier is used to make members accessible within the same assembly. It means that these members can be accessed by other classes within the same project or assembly.
Encapsulation also involves using properties and methods to control the access to the members of a class. Properties provide a way to get and set the values of private fields (member variables) of a class. Methods provide a way to perform actions or operations on the data within a class.
By encapsulating the internal details of a class, we can achieve data hiding and abstraction. Data hiding ensures that the internal details of a class cannot be accessed directly from outside the class, which helps maintain the integrity of the data. Abstraction allows us to provide a simplified and more manageable view of an object by exposing only the necessary information and operations, while hiding the complexity of the implementation.
Encapsulation is important for creating maintainable and reusable code. It allows for better control over access to class members, promotes code organization and modularity, and helps protect the data and prevent unintended modification.