Data hiding

Data hiding, also known as information hiding, is a programming concept and a fundamental principle of object-oriented design that focuses on concealing the implementation details of an object and exposing only the necessary information or functionality. The goal of data hiding is to encapsulate the internal state of an object and protect it from being directly accessed or modified from outside the object.

In object-oriented programming (OOP), an object typically encapsulates both data (attributes or properties) and methods (functions or procedures) that operate on that data. Data hiding ensures that the internal representation of an object is not exposed to the external world. This is achieved through the use of access modifiers or visibility control mechanisms, such as public, private, and protected keywords, which define the accessibility of members (attributes and methods) within a class.

 

Here are the common access modifiers and their meanings:

 

1. Public:

   • Members declared as public are accessible from any part of the program. There are no restrictions on their access.

2. Private:

   • Members declared as private are accessible only within the same class. They are hidden from external classes or objects.

3. Protected:

   • Members declared as protected are accessible within the same class and its subclasses (derived classes). They are not accessible from outside the class hierarchy.

 

The benefits of data hiding include:

• Encapsulation: Data hiding is a crucial aspect of encapsulation, which is the bundling of data and methods that operate on that data within a single unit (object). Encapsulation provides a way to control access to the internal state and behavior of an object.

• Security: By restricting direct access to certain members, data hiding enhances security. It prevents unintended modification of an object's internal state and reduces the risk of errors caused by unauthorized access.

• Abstraction: Data hiding allows programmers to present a simplified and abstract view of an object to the external world. Users of the class need to know only the essential details, promoting a clear and manageable interface.

• Flexibility and Maintenance: Hiding implementation details provides flexibility to change the internal representation of an object without affecting the external code that uses the object. This makes it easier to maintain and evolve the codebase over time.

 

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