What does the term "encapsulation" refer to in software development?

Encapsulation in software development is a fundamental concept of object-oriented programming that involves hiding the internal state and implementation details of a class from the outside world. This means that the internal workings of an object are not exposed to other parts of the program, allowing the class to manage its data through well-defined interfaces, usually via methods. By doing so, encapsulation promotes modularity and protects the integrity of the data, ensuring that it can only be accessed or modified in controlled ways. This helps in reducing complexity and increases the maintainability of the code.

The concept stands in contrast to directly accessing data or allowing open access to all data, which can lead to errors and unintended side effects. While creating user interfaces is important, it does not directly relate to the encapsulation principle itself. Thus, encapsulation focuses on controlling how the data is accessed and manipulated, emphasizing security and abstraction in software design.