Loose coupling is a design principle in software engineering that promotes minimal dependencies between different components or systems. This means that changes in one component have little to no impact on others, making the overall system more flexible and easier to maintain. By reducing these dependencies, developers can update or replace parts of the system without needing to overhaul everything. In practice, loose coupling can be achieved through techniques like using interfaces, APIs, or event-driven architectures. These methods allow components to communicate without being tightly bound to each other, enhancing scalability and enabling teams to work on different parts of a project simultaneously.