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Showing posts from December, 2010

Encapsulation: Local change - Local effect principle

One of the central principles of object oriented programming is Encapsulation. Encapsulation states that the implementation details of an object are hidden behind the methods that provide access to that data. But why is encapsulation a good idea? Why bother to do it in the first place? Just stating that it's "good OO design" isn't sufficient justification. There is one primary justification of encapsulation. It's a principle I call "Local Change - Local Effect". If you change code in one spot, it should only require changes in a small neighborhood surrounding the original change. When used properly, encapsulation allows software to change gradually without requiring bulk changes throughout the system (Change of code in one place requires code change in many places is known as Domino effect). Encapsulation helps follow this principle by allowing changes in the representation of an object's state. The methods for the object may be affected, but ca