Leaky abstraction is a term used to describe an abstraction that exposes details and limitations of its underlying implementation to the client code, breaking the illusion of simplicity. It's like buying a Tesla and realizing you still have to deal with flat tires and traffic jams, even though you thought you were leaving all that behind.

How to use it in a sentence

• "I thought using this new ORM would make my database code cleaner, but it turned out to be a leaky abstraction when I had to debug a gnarly SQL query it generated behind the scenes."

• "The new microservices architecture promised to make our system more scalable and maintainable, but the complex inter-service communication ended up being a leaky abstraction that caused more headaches than it solved."

If you actually want to learn more...

• The Law of Leaky Abstractions by Joel Spolsky provides an in-depth explanation of leaky abstractions and why they are inevitable in complex systems.

• Leaky Abstractions by Hackernoon discusses how leaky abstractions can lead to performance issues and unexpected behavior in software systems.

• The Myth of the Perfect Abstraction by Bryan Cantrill is a talk that explores the trade-offs and limitations of abstractions in software design, including the concept of leaky abstractions.

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