>How did "abstraction" and "hiding complexity" become perceived as such fundamental virtues in software development? They aren't just fundamental virtues in so

>How did "abstraction" and "hiding complexity" become perceived as such fundamental virtues in software development? They aren't just fundamental virtues in software development, they're the fundamental basis of all cognition. If I twiddled with every bit in my computer I'd never write a hello world program, if I wrestled with every atom in my coffee cup I'd never drink a sip of coffee. Abstraction and information hiding is the only way we ever accomplish anything because the amount of information fitting in our heads is astonishingly small compared to the systems we build. Without systems of abstraction we would literally get nothing meaningful done.