C++ Encapsulation
Encapsulation
The meaning of Encapsulation, is to make sure that
"sensitive" data is hidden from users. To achieve this, you must declare class variables/attributes as private (cannot
be accessed from outside the class). If you want others to read or modify the
value of a private member, you can provide public get and
set methods.
Access Private Members
To access a private attribute, use public "get" and "set" methods:
Example
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Employee {
private:
// Private attribute
int salary;
public:
// Setter
void setSalary(int s) {
salary = s;
}
// Getter
int getSalary() {
return salary;
}
};
int
main() {
Employee myObj;
myObj.setSalary(50000);
cout << myObj.getSalary();
return 0;
}
Try it Yourself »
Example explained
The salary attribute is private,
which have restricted access.
The public setSalary() method takes a parameter (s) and assigns it to the
salary attribute (salary = s).
The public getSalary() method returns the value of
the private salary attribute.
Inside main(), we create an object of the Employee class. Now we can use the
setSalary() method to set the value of the
private attribute to 50000. Then we call the
getSalary() method on the object to return the value.
Why Encapsulation?
- It is considered good practice to declare your class attributes as private (as often as you can). Encapsulation ensures better control of your data, because you (or others) can change one part of the code without affecting other parts
- Increased security of data
