Encapsulation

Encapsulation groups data and behavior together and hides internal details. In Python, a leading underscore is a convention for “internal” attributes.

Example

class User:
    def __init__(self, username, password):
        self.username = username
        self._password = password  # internal use

    def check_password(self, candidate):
        return candidate == self._password

Notes

• _name is a convention (not enforced).

• __name triggers name‑mangling for stronger privacy.

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