Data encapsulation

Data encapsulation is the mechanism whereby the implementation details of a class are kept hidden from the user. The user can only perform a restricted set of operations on the hidden members of the class by executing special functions commonly called methods. Data encapsulation may refer to:

• The wrapping of private data in classes in object-oriented programming languages: see Encapsulation (object-oriented programming), information hiding, separation of concerns
• The wrapping of network data by a lower layer in the OSI model into a single unit where a higher layer can extract the relevant data: see Encapsulation (networking)