<P> In software engineering and computer science , abstraction is a technique for arranging complexity of computer systems . It works by establishing a level of complexity on which a person interacts with the system , suppressing the more complex details below the current level . The programmer works with an idealized interface ( usually well defined ) and can add additional levels of functionality that would otherwise be too complex to handle . For an example , a programmer writing code that involves numerical operations may not be interested in the way numbers are represented in the underlying hardware ( e.g. whether they 're 16 bit or 32 bit integers ) , and where those details have been suppressed it can be said that they were abstracted away , leaving simply numbers with which the programmer can work . In addition , a task of sending an email message across continents would be extremely complex if the programmer had to start with a piece of fiber optic cable and basic hardware components . By using layers of complexity that have been created to abstract away the physical cables and network layout , and presenting the programmer with a virtual data channel , this task is manageable . </P>
<P> In software engineering and computer science , abstraction is a technique for arranging complexity of computer systems . It works by establishing a level of complexity on which a person interacts with the system , suppressing the more complex details below the current level . The programmer works with an idealized interface ( usually well defined ) and can add additional levels of functionality that would otherwise be too complex to handle . For an example , a programmer writing code that involves numerical operations may not be interested in the way numbers are represented in the underlying hardware ( e.g. whether they 're 16 bit or 32 bit integers ) , and where those details have been suppressed it can be said that they were abstracted away , leaving simply numbers with which the programmer can work . In addition , a task of sending an email message across continents would be extremely complex if the programmer had to start with a piece of fiber optic cable and basic hardware components . By using layers of complexity that have been created to abstract away the physical cables and network layout , and presenting the programmer with a virtual data channel , this task is manageable . </P>
what is meant by abstraction in computer science
what is meant by abstraction in computer science
a technique for arranging complexity of computer systems
a technique for arranging complexity of computer systems