Abstraction is like organizing a messy drawer. Imagine you have a drawer full of different items like pens, paper clips, batteries, and sticky notes. It’s overwhelming to look at all these items individually, so you decide to group similar things together. You put all the pens in one container, the paper clips in another, and so on. This way, even though you have many items, you only need to think about a few categories to find what you need.
Abstraction works in a similar way, but with information and processes instead of physical items. When we use abstraction, we simplify complex information by focusing only on the most important parts and ignoring the details that aren’t necessary at the moment. This helps us understand and work with complicated things more easily.
For example, when using a smartphone, you don’t need to understand all the technical details about how it works inside. You just interact with simple icons and apps. The smartphone’s operating system handles the complex stuff behind the scenes, allowing you to focus on using the phone without getting bogged down by the details.
In programming, abstraction allows developers to use functions or objects without needing to know the intricate details of how they work internally. This makes it easier to build and manage complex software systems because they can focus on higher-level tasks rather than getting lost in every little detail.
In simple terms, abstraction is about simplifying complex things by focusing on the essential parts and ignoring unnecessary details. This makes it easier to understand and work with complicated information.