data abstraction
A technique for reducing the complexity of data, by concealing data objects. Data abstraction controls the fields and functions that a calling application can access and manipulate. For example, a complex data object, such as an employee object, uses one or more other data objects, such as text fields and numeric fields. In this example, data abstraction can hide sensitive information, such as salary and social security number.
Related terms
application, data, field, function, object
Contrast with
data type, object-oriented programming

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