Explain how the principle of information hiding is related to the concept of separation of concerns within encapsulation.

The principle of information hiding and the concept of separation of responsibilities are closely related within the framework of encapsulation.

Information hiding means that the internal details of an object’s implementation are hidden from the outside world, providing only the necessary interface for interaction. This prevents direct access to internal data and protects it from misuse.

Separation of responsibilities implies that each object or module is responsible only for its part of the functionality.

The connection between them is that encapsulation implements information hiding, allowing responsibilities to be divided among system components. Each component manages its data and behavior without revealing internal details to others, which increases modularity and reduces coupling.

Example in Python:

class BankAccount:
    def __init__(self, balance):
        self.__balance = balance  # private field

    def deposit(self, amount):
        if amount > 0:
            self.__balance += amount

    def get_balance(self):
        return self.__balance

Here, __balance is hidden from external access, and methods provide controlled access, sharing responsibility for managing the balance within the class.