**Encapsulation** provides access to the methods and attributes of the class.

## Private or public

Some attributes and/or methods cannot be accessed or modified. For example, it is correct not to change the `number_of_legs` of your `cat` object (usually, this value is 4). 

This attribute must be **private** - **not available** outside the class.

By default, all methods and attributes are public in the Python class. 
To make it private, add two ``__`` before the variable name:

class Cat:
  def __init__(self, name = 'Kitty', age = 1):
    self.name = name
    self.age = age
    # Private 
    self.__number_of_legs = 4

print(Cat)

**The way to access even the private value:**

class Cat:
  def __init__(self, name = 'Kitty', age = 1):
    self.name = name
    self.age = age
    # Private 
    self.__number_of_legs = 4 
  
cat = Cat()
# Access the private value
print(cat._Cat__number_of_legs)

The object-oriented paradigm allows developers to create and structure programs using objects with predefined behavior. This is a widely used style of software organization that is easy for the development team to understand. Like most other programming languages, Python supports and implements this paradigm.

The first step is to understand the key statements. Classes, objects, attributes, methods...

Encapsulation provides access to the methods and attributes of the class.

Inheritance's main idea is to use already defined classes and produce new ones by improving and extending some other classes.

This OOP principle allows the user to change the parent class functionality and adapt it to the children's class.

Private and Public Concepts

Private or public