Abstraction is an essential concept in programming that allows developers to focus on the most critical aspects of a program while hiding the unnecessary complexity. In this blog post, I will explore what abstraction is and how it works in programming, its benefits, and a code example in TypeScript to help illustrate the concept.

Overview

Abstraction is the process of removing unnecessary details while focusing on the essential aspects of a program. It is a crucial concept in programming as it simplifies the code and makes it more manageable. Both - CS50 and Google IT Support Professional Certificate go over Abstraction within the first chapters because it is important to know about it as you learn more and more about programming.

What is Abstraction?

Abstraction is the process of breaking down complex systems into simpler, more manageable components. It allows developers to create a higher-level view of a system, which they can use to interact with the system without worrying about the implementation details. In other words, it hides the implementation details and focuses on what the system does instead.

Benefits of Abstraction

Abstraction provides several benefits in programming. It simplifies the code by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable components, which makes it easier to understand and modify. It also makes the code more reusable, as the components can be reused in different parts of the program. Additionally, abstraction enhances the security of the program as it hides the implementation details, making it harder for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities.

Code Example

The following code example in TypeScript demonstrates the concept of abstraction. In this example, we have a Car class that has a start() method that starts the engine and a stop() method that stops the engine. However, we have abstracted away the implementation details of how the engine starts and stops by defining the methods as abstract.

abstract class Car {
  abstract start(): void;
  abstract stop(): void;
}

class Sedan extends Car {
  start() {
    console.log('Starting the Sedan');
  }

  stop() {
    console.log('Stopping the Sedan');
  }
}

class SUV extends Car {
  start() {
    console.log('Starting the SUV');
  }

  stop() {
    console.log('Stopping the SUV');
  }
}

const sedan = new Sedan();
const suv = new SUV();

sedan.start(); // Starting the Sedan
suv.stop(); // Stopping the SUV

In this example, we have abstracted away the implementation details of how the engine starts and stops. We have defined the start() and stop() methods as abstract, which means that the child classes (Sedan and SUV) must implement them. This abstraction allows us to create different types of cars with different implementations of the start() and stop() methods without worrying about how the engine starts and stops.

Conclusion

Abstraction is an essential concept in programming that allows developers to focus on the most critical aspects of a program while hiding the unnecessary complexity. It simplifies the code, makes it more manageable and reusable, and enhances the security of the program. Abstraction is a powerful tool that every programmer should know to become a better developer.