Abstraction

Abstraction involves changing the interface of an object and exposing it in a more useful or appropriate form. This may be done by providing a layer of software, or whatever, which makes an object or collection of objects easier to manage by exposing a different object with a different interface. An example of this would be presenting the user with a tier of a service, for example of tier of web servers and their associated load balancer. The user would then manage the whole tier as a single object, including web tier attributes and load balancing policies, rather than managing each individual component.

Changing the interface of an object and exposing it in a more useful form. Abstraction may be done by providing a layer of software which makes an object or collection of objects easier to manage by exposing a different object with a different interface.

A simplified representation of something that is potentially quite complex. It is often not necessary to know the exact details of how something works, is represented or is implemented, because we can still make use of it in its simplified form. Object-oriented design often involves finding the right level of abstraction at which to work when modeling real-life objects. If the level is too high, then not enough detail will be captured. If the level is too low, then a program could be more complex and difficult to create and understand than it needs to be.

Broadly, the use of specialized software, such as an application programming interface (API), as a means of shielding software from device dependencies or the complexities of underlying software. Note: For instance, hardware abstraction enables programs to focus on a task, such as communications, instead of on individual differences between communications devices. 2. In object-oriented programming, the process of reducing an object to its essence so that only the necessary elements are represented. Abstraction defines an object in terms of its properties (attributes), behaviors (functionality), and interface (means of communicating with other objects). [MS]