Why Getters and Setters Are Used?

Getters and setters are used to protect your data, particularly when creating classes. For each instance variable

instance variable

An instance variable is a variable which is declared in a class but outside of constructors, methods, or blocks. Instance variables are created when an object is instantiated, and are accessible to all the constructors, methods, or blocks in the class.

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, a getter method returns its value while a setter method sets or updates its value. Given this, getters and setters are also known as accessors and mutators, respectively.

Why do we use setters and getters?

Getters and Setters play an important role in retrieving and updating the value of a variable outside the encapsulating class. A setter updates the value of a variable, while a getter reads the value of a variable.

Should I always use getters and setters?

Using getters and setters, is always, in my opinion good practice. One thing you should avoid is to have external entities mess with the internal structure of your class at will. Typical example, consider having a dateOfBirth parameter.