What does item shielding in programming achieve?

Item shielding in programming is primarily concerned with protecting object states, which is why the answer is correct. This concept involves encapsulating an object's internal state and controlling access to it, ensuring that only designated methods or functions can modify or read those states. By enforcing this level of protection, item shielding helps maintain the integrity of an object's data, and prevents unintended interference from other parts of the program.

While preventing data corruption, improving performance, and simplifying data retrieval are important considerations in programming, these outcomes are not the primary objective of item shielding. Preventing data corruption could be a result of effective item shielding, but it is broader and not specific to the concept. Improving performance often relates to the efficiency of algorithms and data structures rather than object state protection. Similarly, simplifying data retrieval deals with how data is accessed and organized, which is separate from the core purpose of shielding object states. Thus, the focus on protecting object states distinguishes item shielding as a critical element in ensuring robust software design and maintenance.