<p>In software development, there is a pre-formal notion of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction_(computer_science)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">abstraction</a>. Several attempts have been made to formalize it. In particular, what is Shutt abstraction, or Shutt abstractiveness, and how does it relate to pre-formalized notions of abstraction?</p>

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2024-03-07T00:49:51.590Z
I will return in a few days to summarize [Shutt's blog post on the topic](https://fexpr.blogspot.com/2013/12/abstractive-power.html), but I am curious as to whether anybody else can give a more detailed account; I'm a little young for this particular conversation. I would be open to moving this to CS SE, but not Software Engineering SE; the latter is not a good venue for formalist discussion.
Corbin
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2024-03-07T17:17:09.417Z
It's not clear to me what answer you are looking for that is not just a summary of Shutt's work: https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~jshutt/abstraction-theory.html . You are a lot more likely to get a good answer if you ask a more specific question.
Max New
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2024-03-07T20:41:11.077Z
@MaxNew: I wanted to ask a question like, "Why do computer scientists insist on pre-formal notions of abstraction?" but clearly such a question is too big and broad for a knowledge-base answer. So, instead, I figured that it would be good to build up a knowledge base by answering smaller easier questions.
Corbin
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2024-03-11T22:42:17.440Z
@Corbin that's a very different question than what you asked, though: one is "how does one formalize the notion of abstraction?" and the other is "why do we even have an informal notion of abstraction?"
cody
<ct.category-theory><definitions><philosophy>
What is Shutt abstractiveness?
Corbin
# What is Shutt abstractiveness?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-07)

In software development, there is a pre-formal notion of [abstraction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction_(computer_science)). Several attempts have been made to formalize it. In particular, what is Shutt abstraction, or Shutt abstractiveness, and how does it relate to pre-formalized notions of abstraction?

**Tags:** ct.category-theory, definitions, philosophy
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I will return in a few days to summarize [Shutt's blog post on the topic](https://fexpr.blogspot.com/2013/12/abstractive-power.html), but I am curious as to whether anybody else can give a more detailed account; I'm a little young for this particular conversation. I would be open to moving this to CS SE, but not Software Engineering SE; the latter is not a good venue for formalist discussion.  
> **username_1**: It's not clear to me what answer you are looking for that is not just a summary of Shutt's work: https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~jshutt/abstraction-theory.html . You are a lot more likely to get a good answer if you ask a more specific question.  
> **username_0**: @MaxNew: I wanted to ask a question like, "Why do computer scientists insist on pre-formal notions of abstraction?" but clearly such a question is too big and broad for a knowledge-base answer. So, instead, I figured that it would be good to build up a knowledge base by answering smaller easier questions.  
> **username_2**: @Corbin that's a very different question than what you asked, though: one is "how does one formalize the notion of abstraction?" and the other is "why do we even have an informal notion of abstraction?"  

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## 0 answers

