Using encapsulation

- Let's take a minute to talk about encapsulation.…Encapsulation is one of the benefits of using…object-oriented programming languages.…It allows the programmer to hide…the instance data definitions…as well as protect the integrity of the instance data.…It hides the method implementations.…This ensures that data structures and operators…are used as intended.…Encapsulation can be described as a protective barrier…that prevents the code and data from being…randomly accessed by other code defined outside the class.…

It always helps to have a concrete example.…So let's think about a checking account.…Inside a checking account you have a balance.…It's declared as private so it can only be updated…using a method.…One of the operations that you can perform on your balance…is you can withdraw money.…The withdraw method checks to make sure the balance…is greater than the withdrawal amount prior to…reducing the balance.…This provides a way to make sure the customer cannot…get overdrawn by withdrawing more money…than what is in the account.…