Encapsulation

If you have been sick, you would have had medicines for sure. One of the tablets that you would have received is a capsule.

Now this kind of tablet, is a bit different from the others. From the outside its just a cap, and it hides everything that is contained within. But what lies inside may be 2 or 3 or more powders loosely arranged and packed within.

An object is something similar. It is created with the immense power of a class. while the composition of the class could be anything (as compared to the capsule), one may not know wht is contained when you create the object handle

as in A obj = new A();

you may say obj here is like the capsule to all those who want to consume it in their programs.

So, with this object one can use its inherent power.

Thus this concept of hiding away its true power is known as Encapsulation.

Encapsulation may refer to:

• molecular encapsulation, in chemistry, the confinement of an individual molecule within a larger molecule
• encapsulation (networking), in computer networking, to include data from an upper layer protocol in a lower layer protocol
• encapsulation (classes - computers), a basic concept of classes in computers
• integrated circuit encapsulation, in electronics, the design and manufacture of protective packages for integrated circuits
• micro-encapsulation, in material science, the coating of microscopic particles with another material
• capsule (pharmacy), in pharmacy, the enclosure of a medicine within a relatively stable shell for administration
• separation of concerns and information hiding, in software engineering, the process of enclosing programming elements inside larger, more abstract entities