módosíthatatlanság

Módosíthatatlanság, meaning immutability in English, refers to the property of an object or data structure that cannot be changed after it has been created. Once a módosíthatatlan object is instantiated, its internal state or value remains fixed for its entire lifetime. Any operation that appears to modify such an object actually results in the creation of a new object with the desired changes, leaving the original object untouched.

This concept is fundamental in various areas of computer science, particularly in functional programming and in the design of secure and predictable systems. In functional programming, immutability simplifies reasoning about program behavior, as the state of módosíthatatlan objects is guaranteed to be constant, preventing side effects and making concurrent programming easier.

In database systems and file storage, módosíthatatlanság can be employed for integrity and auditability. For instance, immutable data logs ensure that historical records cannot be tampered with, providing a reliable audit trail. Similarly, in cryptography, módosíthatatlan data structures like Merkle trees are used to efficiently verify the integrity of large datasets.

While módosíthatatlanság offers significant advantages in terms of predictability, safety, and concurrency, it can sometimes lead to performance considerations. Creating new objects instead of modifying existing ones can increase memory usage and garbage collection overhead. However, many programming languages and libraries provide optimizations to mitigate these potential drawbacks, such as efficient sharing of underlying data between módosíthatatlan objects. The principle of módosíthatatlanság is a powerful tool for building robust and reliable software.