QUESTION 42
Which of the following statements regarding the design principle ‘information hiding’ are true and which are false? (Assign all answers.)
Explanation:
The statements regarding the design principle ‘information hiding’ that are true and false are as follows:
* True:
* Adhering to the ‘information hiding’ principle increases flexibility for modifications (A).
* Information hiding involves deliberately hiding information from callers or consumers of the building block (B).
* In object-oriented development, information hiding is primarily relevant at class level (E).
* False:
* Information hiding makes it harder to distinguish between interface and implementation C.
* Information hiding is a derivative of the approach of incremental refinement along the control flow (D).
The principle of ‘information hiding’ is a fundamental concept in software engineering that promotes encapsulation and abstraction. Here’s an explanation of each statement:
* True Statements:
* (A): Information hiding allows for changes in the implementation without affecting other parts of the system, thus increasing flexibility1.
* (B): The core idea of information hiding is to keep the implementation details away from the users of the component, revealing only what is necessary2.
* (E): In object-oriented programming, information hiding is typically applied at the class level, where internal data and methods are hidden from other classes3.
* False Statements:
* C: Information hiding does not make it harder to distinguish between interface and implementation; rather, it helps to clearly define the interface by hiding the implementation details1.
* (D): Information hiding is not a derivative of incremental refinement along the control flow; it is a separate principle that focuses on hiding the internal complexities of a component4.
Information hiding is crucial for maintaining a clean and modular architecture, where components can be developed, maintained, and replaced independently.
References:
* Stack Overflow discussion on Abstraction vs Information Hiding vs Encapsulation1.
* Wikipedia article on Information Hiding2.
* Kansas State University textbook excerpt on Information Hiding3.
* Techopedia definition of Information Hiding4.