What is encapsulation in Java?

Encapsulation is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that refers to the ability of objects to hide their data from other objects. In Java, encapsulation is implemented using access modifiers, such as private, public, and protected, which control the visibility of the object's fields and methods.

The main benefit of encapsulation is that it helps maintain the integrity of an object's data by preventing other objects from directly accessing or modifying it. Instead, other objects must use the object's public methods to interact with its data, which ensures that the data is manipulated in a consistent and predictable way.

Encapsulation also promotes code reusability and reduces the likelihood of errors or bugs by making it easier to make changes to the internal implementation of an object without affecting other parts of the code.