Information hiding is the principle of segregating the design decisions in a computer program that are most likely to change, thus protecting other parts of the program from extensive modification if the design decision is changed. It's a way of reducing the complexity of a system by encapsulating the messy details behind a clean interface, like sweeping the Cheeto dust under your keyboard.

How to use it in a sentence

• "I'm not going to expose that data member as public, I believe in information hiding - I'm not running a social media company here."

• "Sure, we could just glob all the code together in one big ball of mud, but I prefer to practice information hiding and break it up into modules. I'm not a savage."

If you actually want to learn more...

• Presentation Domain Separation - A useful design principle is maintaining a separation between the presentation aspects of a program (user interface) and the rest of the functionality. This separation offers many benefits.

• Encapsulated Collection - In object-oriented design, it is essential to encapsulate your data. The simplest form of encapsulation is to use accessors (getting and setting methods) or properties, if your language supports it.

• Pragmatics on Principles - Design principles should be considered guidelines rather than rigid rules, as they often conflict and overlap. Violating principles when necessary is acceptable and sometimes beneficial.

Note: the Developer Dictionary is in Beta. Please direct feedback to skye@statsig.com.