abstract data type
<programming> (ADT) A kind of data abstraction where a type's internal
form is hidden behind a set of access functions. Values of the type are created
and inspected only by calls to the access functions. This allows the
implementation of the type to be changed without requiring any changes outside
the module in which it is defined.
Objects and ADTs are both forms of data abstraction, but objects are not ADTs.
Objects use procedural abstraction (methods), not type abstraction.
A classic example of an ADT is a stack data type for which functions might be
provided to create an empty stack, to push values onto a stack and to pop values
from a stack.
Reynolds paper.
Cook paper "OOP vs ADTs".
(2003-07-03)
Nearby terms:
absolute path « absolute pathname « abstract class «
abstract data type » abstract interpretation »
abstraction » abstract machine
