Thinking Abstractly

Thinking Abstractly

1. The Nature of Abstraction

   • The process of removing unnecessary details
   • Breaking things down so its easier to understand
   • Details have been hidden from the user because most people don't need to know these details.

2. The Need for Abstraction

   • Increased efficiency
   • Easier to understand
   • Less knowiedge needed

3. The differences between an abstraction and reality

   • Reality is what actually exists
   • An abstraction strips out all of the parts of any real system which are irrelevant and leaves only a sub-system of what is real
   • a model is created that shows only the parts of reality that someone needs to be able to observe, understand, quantify, discuss and use.