NOCTI Computer Programming Practice Exam

Encapsulation in programming is primarily focused on restricting access to certain components of an object and controlling how the object's data and methods can be accessed and modified. This principle helps to maintain the integrity of the data by preventing outside interference and misuse. By encapsulating data, it allows an object to hide its internal state and only expose certain functionalities to the outside world. This is often achieved through the use of access modifiers such as private, protected, and public, which define how the elements of a class can be accessed from other parts of the program.

While the other choices touch upon other programming concepts, they do not capture the essence of encapsulation. Differentiating data types pertains to data classification, integrating classes relates to inheritance and composition, and improving application performance is a broader concern that can involve various programming practices, but none of these directly address the concept of restricting access and protecting the internal state of an object, which is the core principle of encapsulation.