What is another name for Encapsulation?

What is another name for Encapsulation?

• A. Inheritance
• B. Polymorphism
• C. Data hiding
• D. Abstraction

Answer: (C)

Encapsulation means hiding the internal state of an object and requiring all interaction to go through a defined interface. This protection of the object’s data is why it’s commonly described as data hiding—the internal values are shielded from direct external access and can only be read or modified through controlled methods. The other concepts describe different ideas: inheritance is about deriving new classes from existing ones, polymorphism is about treating different objects via a common interface, and abstraction is about exposing essential behavior while ignoring complex details. Among these, data hiding best captures what encapsulation does, making it the most precise alternate name.

Encapsulation means hiding the internal state of an object and requiring all interaction to go through a defined interface. This protection of the object’s data is why it’s commonly described as data hiding—the internal values are shielded from direct external access and can only be read or modified through controlled methods. The other concepts describe different ideas: inheritance is about deriving new classes from existing ones, polymorphism is about treating different objects via a common interface, and abstraction is about exposing essential behavior while ignoring complex details. Among these, data hiding best captures what encapsulation does, making it the most precise alternate name.