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Every instance (i.e., object) of a class contains one copy of each instance variable

Instance variables typically declared private

• private is an access modifier
• private variables and methods are accessible only to methods of the class in which they are declared

Declaring instance private is known as data hiding or information hiding

private variables are encapsulated (hidden) in the object and can be accessed only by methods of the object’s class

• Prevents instance variables from being modified accidentally by a class in another part of the program
• Set and get methods used to access instance variables