How does encapsulation protect an object’s data in object-oriented programming?

In object-oriented programming, encapsulation protects an object’s data through a process known as information hiding.12

By packaging data together with the operations that act upon that data, the object restricts direct access to its internal state. Instead of allowing external code to manipulate the data structures directly, the object exposes only specific, controlled operations to the public. This design ensures that the internal details of how data is stored or managed remain hidden, which allows programmers to work on individual components of a large system in isolation without inadvertently disrupting other parts of the program.12