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Encyclopedia of Database Systems pp 1–5Cite as

Interface

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Definition

An interface describes the functionalities exported by an entity such as a software module. These functionalities typically consist in named operations with signatures describing potential arguments and return values, but interfaces may also include the definitions of data types, constants, exceptions, or even describe semantics.

Interfaces shield the internals of corresponding software modules from the outside, providing several benefits. Interfaces provide abstraction, in the sense that the internals of modules may evolve while other modules can still rely on the same functionalities (encapsulation). Safety and security are promoted by interfaces as these define single access points to respective software modules.

In object-oriented programming, software modules often coincide with classes, which also describe data types implicitly. In the case of such a class, an interface is thus roughly made up of the methods exported by the class. Mostly, interfaces are then defined...

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Recommended Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Patrick Eugster

Authors
  1. Patrick Eugster
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Correspondence to Patrick Eugster .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. Dept. of Elec. and Comp.Eng., Univ. of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, M5S 3G4, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    H. - Arno Jacobsen

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Eugster, P. (2016). Interface. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_1176-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7993-3_1176-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7993-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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