One of the best things about OOP is that it supports encapsulation—defining how accessible an object's variables and methods are to outside code (this is sometimes referred to as calling code). Take our soda can as an example—in a vending machine, the possible interactions are limited. Since the machine is locked, not just anyone can come up and grab one; if you happen to have the right change, you'll be allowed provisional access to it, but in a specified quantity. If the machine itself is locked inside a room, only someone with the door key will even know the soda can exists.Â
The question you're asking yourself now is, how do we set these limitations? The simple answer is that we've been using encapsulation this entire time by specifying access modifiers for our object variables and methods. If you need a refresher, go back and visit the Access modifiers section in Chapter 3, Diving into Variables, Types, and Methods...
