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Magic (programming)
In the context of computer programming, magic is an informal term for abstraction; it is used to describe code that handles complex tasks while hiding that complexity to present a simple interface. The term is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and often carries bad connotations, implying that the true behavior of the code is not immediately apparent. For example, Perl's polymorphic typing and closure mechanisms are often called "magic". The term implies that the hidden complexity is at least in principle understandable, in contrast to variants which describe arcane techniques that are deliberately hidden or extremely difficult to understand. However, the term can also be applied endearingly, suggesting a "charm" about the code. The action of such abstractions is described as being done "automagically", a portmanteau of "automatically" and "magically". Referential opacity "Magic" refers to procedures which make calculations based on data not clearly provided to them, by accessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abstraction (computer Science)
In software engineering and computer science, abstraction is the process of generalizing concrete details, such as attributes, away from the study of objects and systems to focus attention on details of greater importance. Abstraction is a fundamental concept in computer science and software engineering, especially within the object-oriented programming paradigm. Examples of this include: * the usage of abstract data types to separate usage from working representations of data within programs; * the concept of functions or subroutines which represent a specific way of implementing control flow; * the process of reorganizing common behavior from groups of non-abstract classes into abstract classes using inheritance and sub-classes, as seen in object-oriented programming languages. Rationale Computing mostly operates independently of the concrete world. The hardware implements a model of computation that is interchangeable with others. The software is structured in archit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |