informasjonskjuling

Informasjonskjuling, often translated as information hiding, is a concept in computer science and software engineering related to the design of systems. It involves deliberately concealing the internal details of a component or module from the outside world, exposing only a necessary interface. This principle is a cornerstone of modular programming, where complex systems are broken down into smaller, independent parts.

The primary goal of information hiding is to reduce complexity and improve maintainability. By hiding the internal implementation, developers can change the way a module works without affecting other parts of the system, as long as the interface remains the same. This allows for easier debugging, testing, and upgrades. It also promotes the principle of abstraction, where users of a module only need to understand what it does, not how it does it.

Different programming languages support information hiding through various mechanisms, such as access modifiers (e.g., private, protected, public) in object-oriented languages, or by controlling visibility of functions and variables in other paradigms. This controlled access ensures that the internal state of a module is protected from unintended modification and that the module's behavior is predictable.

While information hiding offers significant benefits, it requires careful design to ensure that the exposed interface is sufficient for external interaction while still protecting internal details. Overly restrictive hiding can lead to inflexibility, while insufficient hiding can undermine the benefits of modularity. The concept is closely related to encapsulation and data abstraction.