What does encapsulation in OOP mainly refer to?

Encapsulation in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) refers primarily to the principle of bundling data (attributes) and methods (functions) that operate on that data into a single unit, often within a class. This encapsulation serves several essential purposes:

1. Data Hiding: By encapsulating data, OOP allows for the protection of an object's internal state from unintended or unauthorized access and modification. This is typically achieved through access modifiers (like private, protected, and public), which define how the data and methods can be accessed.

2. Modularity: Encapsulation promotes a modular design where the implementation details of a class are hidden from the rest of the system. Users can interact with the class through well-defined interfaces (methods) without needing to understand or modify the inner workings of the class itself.

3. Ease of Maintenance: Since data and behavior are bound together, developers can modify the internal workings of a class without affecting external code that relies on it, leading to easier maintenance and the possibility of evolving the code over time without breaking existing functionality.

4. Improved Readability: Code organization through encapsulation makes systems easier to understand, especially in complex applications. Each class acts as a logical unit that can