What mechanisms of encapsulation are implemented in Python?

In Python, encapsulation is implemented through conventions and mechanisms that restrict access to class attributes and methods:

• Public attributes and methods — accessible everywhere.
• Protected attributes — start with a single underscore _attribute. This is just a convention indicating that such attributes are not intended for external use.
• Private attributes — start with double underscores __attribute. Python applies name mangling, changing the attribute's name inside the class to make external access more difficult.

Example:

class MyClass:
    def __init__(self):
        self.public = 1
        self._protected = 2
        self.__private = 3

obj = MyClass()
print(obj.public)       # 1
print(obj._protected)   # 2 (but it is not recommended to do so)
# print(obj.__private)  # AttributeError
print(obj._MyClass__private)  # 3, access via name mangling

Thus, encapsulation in Python is more based on conventions and language mechanisms rather than strict access restrictions, as in some other languages.