view

View is a term used across many fields to denote sight, perspective, or a specific representation of data or information. It can indicate the act of seeing, a vantage point, or the arrangement through which something is observed. The word traces back to the Old French voir and Latin videre.

In databases, a view is a virtual table defined by a query. It presents data from one or more tables without storing the data itself, providing data abstraction, security, and a simplified interface for queries. Applications can reference a view as if it were a real table, which can streamline access patterns. Some database systems support updatable views, while others require updates to be performed on the underlying tables. Materialized views, by contrast, store the query result physically and must be refreshed to reflect changes.

In software architecture, a view refers to the presentation layer that renders data to the user, as in the model–view–controller pattern. A single model may have multiple views to display data in different formats. Views can be implemented as templates, UI components, or pages that observe the model and update when data changes.

In user interfaces, a view commonly means the current screen or scene shown to the user, with navigation moving between views. In geographic information systems, a viewshed or view describes which parts of the terrain are visible from a point, accounting for obstructions.

Overall, view denotes both a visual presentation and a conceptual perspective, varying in meaning by domain but centered on observation and representation.