The practice of bundling data and the methods that operate on that data together within a single unit, while hiding internal implementation details from outside access. It's like putting related things in a protective capsule with controlled access points.
From Latin 'capsula' meaning small box or container, with the prefix 'en-' meaning to put into. The computing term emerged in the 1970s with object-oriented programming, describing how data and functions could be 'encapsulated' together like medicine in a pill capsule.
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