Western Governors University (WGU) ITSW 2113 D278 Scripting and Programming Foundations Practice Exam

The concept of "data encapsulation" in object-oriented programming refers to the practice of restricting access to certain details of an object, effectively hiding the internal state and requiring all interaction to be performed through an object's methods. This design principle helps to safeguard the integrity of the object's data by preventing external entities from making uncontrolled changes to that data.

By limiting access, encapsulation promotes a clear separation between an object's interface (the public methods) and its implementation (the private variables and methods). This way, the internal representation of an object can be changed without affecting other parts of the program that interact with it, as they rely solely on the defined interface.

Moreover, data encapsulation enhances maintainability and flexibility, allowing developers to change the internal workings of a class without disrupting other code that relies on the class. It also encourages the use of getter and setter methods, which can include validation or other logic before allowing a change to the object's state.

In conclusion, the essence of encapsulation lies in its ability to protect object data while providing a controlled interface for interaction, which is why this answer is correct.