Difference Between Abstraction and Encapsulation

Abstraction and encapsulation are fundamental object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts that enable you to integrate real-world objects into programs and codes.

Despite the fact that both are interrelated, they are different from one another.

Every method is both an encapsulation and an abstraction.

In basic words, when you combine multiple objects to form an entity, you produce a concept – an abstract.

While they are technically inseparable, they have nothing in common.

Although it is virtually true that every encapsulation is an abstraction since they both conceal something, they do have significant distinctions.

What is Abstraction?

Abstraction is a fundamental OOP concept that focuses on just the necessary data of an object while hiding any extraneous aspects that may or may not be for general or specialized behaviour.

To decrease complexity and promote efficiency, it conceals background details and focuses on the most essential factors.

Abstraction is essentially a programming technique for managing complexity.

Abstraction is concerned with ideas rather than events.

It conceals design features by providing users with functionality. The resultant object is also known as an abstraction.

The programmer ensures that the named entity has all of the necessary aspects and none of the extraneous ones.

Take a look at a real-world example of abstraction. Consider the scenario of a vehicle, in this case, your vehicle.

A mechanic attempts to fix your car or, more specifically, a particular part of your car.

You are the user here, and you don’t want to dig into the intricacies of your car or whatever part broke.

You don’t care about such details; all you want is for your car to be repaired to its original state.

So you really informed the mechanic what you wanted by separating the implementation part. This is called abstraction.

You concentrated on the most important thing, which was having your car repaired, rather than the details.

What is Encapsulation?

Another OOP concept is encapsulation, which combines data and functions into a single component while limiting access to particular components.

It is one of the fundamental concepts of OOP that combines data and information into a single unit.

Encapsulation, in technical terms, involves concealing characteristics to protect variables from outside access so that changes in one part of an application do not affect the other parts.

On the contrary, by making information more accessible, you risk data abuse.

It ensures the fundamental integrity of the data by shielding it from the outside world.

In a nutshell, it conceals extraneous information from the outside world.

Consider a Bluetooth mouse as an example. You just need to know about the device’s behaviour and not about implementation specifics like what sort of sensors the mouse has, whether it’s wireless or not, etc.

Every detail describes the mouse, yet no matter what, it’s simply a mouse.

You just need an interface to use the mouse, which in this instance is the mouse pointer. This is called encapsulation.

Difference Between Abstraction and Encapsulation

While both are fundamental concepts in OOP and are theoretically inseparable, they have significant differences in many ways.

1. Differences in Definition

Abstraction is a basic OOP concept that highlights all of an object’s essential characteristics while concealing extraneous details in order to boost efficiency and decrease complexity. Encapsulation, on the other hand, is a data concealment technique that encases data and information in a capsule to prevent access from the outside world.

2. Differences in Functionality

Abstraction is a data concealing strategy that emphasizes just the essential aspects of complex programs to make them easier to understand, while encapsulation is a means of combining data and code into a single entity. The intention is to restrict access to the implementation details externally.

3. Differences in Implementation

Abstraction is accomplished by the use of abstract classes and interfaces, while encapsulation is achieved through the use of access modifiers. To encapsulate data, five sorts of modifiers are used: private, public, internal, protected, and protected internal.

4. Differences in Concept

The goal of abstraction is to concentrate on what rather than how. Encapsulation conceals the underlying mechanics of how. For example, when you drive a car, you know what the brake pedal does, but you may not understand the whole process since the data is encapsulated.

5. Differences in Example

Consider the smartphone as an example. You know what it does, but you may not know how it does it. You are solely concerned with the display screen and keypad buttons rather than the internal circuitry. In this context, the smartphone is an abstract that encapsulates the inner implementation details.

Comparison Table Between Abstraction and Encapsulation

AbstractionEncapsulation
To decrease complexity and increase efficiency, it deals with just the relevant details while concealing the extraneous ones.It combines data and information into a single entity to safeguard the data from outside sources.
It refers to the concept of concealing data that is not needed for display.It conceals the data and code to prevent unauthorized access.
It is concerned with what rather than how.It conceals the core mechanics of how it operates.
It conceals unneeded details at the design level.It also conceals information, but only at the implementation level.
The important data is segregated from the information and data.For easy access, information is hidden within a capsule.
It is concerned with ideas rather than events.The goal is to keep the data safe from the outside world.
It is implemented using an abstract class and an interface.It is implemented through modifiers such as private, public, internal, protected, and protected internal.

Summary of the Difference Between Abstraction and Encapsulation

While both are OOP concepts related to data hiding, they are quite distinct.

Encapsulation and abstraction both pertain to concealing, however, while abstraction conceals complexity, encapsulation protects the data it wraps by regulating access to them.

Abstraction refers to the concept of displaying just the basic features while concealing the extraneous aspects in order to decrease application complexity and increase efficiency.

Encapsulation, on the other hand, refers to the concept of concealing all of a program’s internal mechanics in order to protect the information from unauthorized access.

It combines data and information into a single component by limiting access to other components.

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