Encapsulation (Getters and Setters)

Encapsulation is a core concept in OOP that involves bundling data and the methods that work on that data within one unit, and controlling access to that data from the outside world. The primary mechanism for this in C++ is the use of access specifiers: `public`, `protected`, and `private`. By declaring a class's member variables as `private`, you make them inaccessible to any code outside the class. This is called data hiding. The main benefit of data hiding is that it protects the object's internal state. It prevents external code from accidentally or intentionally corrupting the object's data, ensuring the object remains in a valid state. So, how do we interact with this private data? We provide a controlled public interface through special member functions. **Getters** (or accessor methods) are public functions that return the value of a private member variable. They provide read-only access. **Setters** (or mutator methods) are public functions that are used to modify the value of a private member variable. Setters are powerful because they can include validation logic. For example, a `setAge` method for a `Person` class could ensure that the age being set is a non-negative number. This combination of private data and public getter/setter methods gives you fine-grained control over your object's data, making your code more robust, secure, and easier to maintain.