abstraction layer

This is about the concept in computer science, for the concept in grouping, see Principle of abstraction. An abstraction layer (or abstraction level) is a way of hiding the implementation details of a particular set of functionality. Perhaps the most well known software models which use layers of abstraction are the OSI 7 Layer model for computer network protocols, OpenGL graphics drawing library, and the byte stream input/output (I/O) model originated by Unix and adopted by MSDOS, Linux, and most other modern operating systems.
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