Beginning C# 2008 Objects: From Concept to Code

2.2. Generalization Through Abstraction

If we eliminate enough detail from an abstraction, it becomes generic enough to apply to a wide range of specific situations or instances. Such generic abstractions can often be quite useful. For example, a diagram of a generic cell in the human body, such as the one in Figure 2-1, might include only a few features of the structures that are found in an actual cell.

Figure 2.1. A generic abstraction of a cell

This overly simplified diagram doesn't look like a real nerve cell, or a real muscle cell, or a real blood cell; and yet, it can still be used in an educational setting to describe certain aspects ...