AP® Computer Science A glossary

Encapsulation

Also called: data encapsulation, information hiding

Course: AP® Computer Science A Shows up in: Unit 3: Class Creation

Keeping the implementation details of a class hidden from other classes, mainly by making instance variables private.

Appears in the course and exam description (CED): 3.3.A.13.3.A.5

Other classes use the public methods and never touch the data directly, so the class controls its own values. A mutator can refuse bad values, and the class can change how it stores data without breaking client code.

Related terms

• Access modifier
• Instance variable
• Accessor method
• Mutator method