Editing Abstraction (computer science) (section)

==Rationale==
{{Quote box|quote=The essence of abstraction is preserving information that is relevant in a given context, and forgetting information that is irrelevant in that context.|source=– [[John Guttag|John V. Guttag]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Guttag |first1=John V. |date=18 January 2013 |title=Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python |edition=Spring 2013 |publisher=The MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0262519632}}</ref>|width=25%}}

Computing mostly operates independently of the concrete world. The hardware implements a [[model of computation]] that is interchangeable with others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Floridi |first1=Luciano |date=September 2008 |title=The Method of Levels of Abstraction |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11023-008-9113-7 |journal=Minds and Machines |language=en |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=303–329 |doi=10.1007/s11023-008-9113-7|hdl=2299/2998 |s2cid=7522925 |issn=0924-6495|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The software is structured in [[software architecture|architecture]]s to enable humans to create the enormous systems by concentrating on a few issues at a time. These architectures are made of specific choices of abstractions. [[Greenspun's tenth rule]] is an [[aphorism]] on how such an architecture is both inevitable and complex.

Language abstraction is a central form of abstraction in computing: new artificial languages are developed to express specific aspects of a system. ''[[Modeling languages]]'' help in planning. ''[[Computer language]]s'' can be processed with a computer. An example of this abstraction process is the generational development of [[programming language]] from the [[first-generation programming language]] ([[machine language]]) to the [[second-generation programming language]] ([[assembly language]]) and the [[third-generation programming language]] ([[high-level programming language]]). Each stage can be used as a stepping stone for the next stage. The language abstraction continues for example in [[scripting language]]s and [[domain-specific language]]s.

Within a programming language, some features let the programmer create new abstractions. These include [[subroutine]]s, [[Modular programming|modules]], [[Polymorphism (computer science)|polymorphism]], and [[software component]]s. Some other abstractions such as [[software design pattern]]s and [[software architecture#Architectural styles and patterns|architectural styles]] remain invisible to a [[Translator (computing)|translator]] and operate only in the design of a system.

Some abstractions try to limit the range of concepts a programmer needs to be aware of, by completely hiding the abstractions they are built on. The software engineer and writer [[Joel Spolsky]] has criticized these efforts by claiming that all abstractions are ''[[leaky abstraction|leaky]]'' – that they can never completely hide the details below;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html |title=The Law of Leaky Abstractions |last1=Spolsky |first1=Joel |date=11 November 2002 |author1-link=Joel Spolsky}}</ref> however, this does not negate the usefulness of abstraction.

Some abstractions are designed to inter-operate with other abstractions – for example, a programming language may contain a [[foreign function interface]] for making calls to the lower-level language.