Abstraction & Encapsulation in C++
Abstraction
Data abstraction is one of the most essential and important feature of object
oriented programming in C++.
Abstraction means displaying only essential information and hiding the details.
Data abstraction refers to providing only essential information about the data to
the outside world, hiding the background details or implementation.
Abstraction Using Class
Abstraction
You can see in the above program we are not allowed to access the variables a and
b directly, however one can call the function set() to set the values in a and b and
the function display() to display the values of a and b.
Advantages of Data Abstraction:
Helps the user to avoid writing the low level code
Avoids code duplication and increases reusability.
Can change internal implementation of class independently without affecting the
user.
Helps to increase security of an application or program as only important details
are provided to the user.
Abstraction in Header File
Ways of Abstraction in C++
Abstraction using Classes: We can implement Abstraction in C++ using classes.
Class helps us to group data members and member functions using available
access specifiers. A Class can decide which data member will be visible to outside
world and which is not.
Abstraction in Header files: One more type of abstraction in C++ can be header
files. For example, consider the pow() method present in math.h header file.
Whenever we need to calculate power of a number, we simply call the function
pow() present in the math.h header file and pass the numbers as arguments
without knowing the underlying algorithm according to which the function is
actually calculating power of numbers.
Ways of Abstraction in C++
Abstraction using access specifiers
Access specifiers are the main pillar of implementing abstraction in C++. We can
use access specifiers to enforce restrictions on class members. For example:
Members declared as public in a class, can be accessed from anywhere in the
program.
Members declared as private in a class, can be accessed only from within the
class. They are not allowed to be accessed from any part of code outside the class.
Advantages of Data Abstraction
Helps the user to avoid writing the low level code.
Avoids code duplication and increases reusability.
Can change internal implementation of class independently without affecting the
user.
Helps to increase security of an application or program as only important details
are provided to the user.
Encapsulation in OOP
Encapsulation
In normal terms Encapsulation is defined as wrapping up of data and
information under a single unit.
In Object Oriented Programming, Encapsulation is defined as binding together
the data and the functions that manipulates them.
Encapsulation also lead to data abstraction or hiding. As using encapsulation also
hides the data.
Real-Life Example of Encapsulation
School Bag
Real-Life Example of Encapsulation
Classroom/Room
Real-Life Example of Encapsulation
Capsule
Real-Life Example of Encapsulation
Gmail Account
Real-Life Example of Encapsulation
Bank Account
Encapsulation
In normal terms Encapsulation is defined as wrapping up of data and information
under a single unit. In Object Oriented Programming,
Encapsulation is defined as binding together the data and the functions that
manipulates them.
Encapsulation also lead to data abstraction or hiding. As using encapsulation also
hides the data.
Encapsulation
Encapsulation
In the above program the variable x is made private. This variable can be accessed
and manipulated only using the functions get() and set() which are present inside
the class. Thus we can say that here, the variable x and the functions get() and
set() are binded together which is nothing but encapsulation.
Role of access specifiers in encapsulation:
As we have seen in above example, access specifiers plays an important role in
implementing encapsulation in C++. The process of implementing encapsulation
can be sub-divided into two steps:
The data members should be labeled as private using the private access specifiers
The member function which manipulates the data members should be labeled as public using
the public access specifier
Difference Between Abstraction & Encapsulation
ABSTRACTION ENCAPSULATION
Abstraction is the process or method of While encapsulation is the process or method to contain the
gaining the information. information.
In abstraction, problems are solved at the While in encapsulation, problems are solved at the
design or interface level. implementation level.
Whereas encapsulation is a method to hide the data in a single
Abstraction is the method of hiding the
entity or unit along with a method to protect information from
unwanted information.
outside.
We can implement abstraction using abstract Whereas encapsulation can be implemented using by access
class and interfaces. modifier i.e. private, protected and public.
In abstraction, implementation complexities
While in encapsulation, the data is hidden using methods of
are hidden using abstract classes and
getters and setters.
interfaces.
The objects that help to perform abstraction Whereas the objects that result in encapsulation need not be
are encapsulated. abstracted.
Q: Define a class “PRIME” in C++ with the following description:
Private Data Members:
IdNo(integer), Name(string), Result(double)
Public Member Functions:
A constructor to assign initial values IdNo as 12, Name as
“XYZ”, and Result as 3.90.
Input() to take the input for IdNo, Name and Result.
Display() to display all the data members.
Thank You
