Is too much abstraction a bad thing?

Yes. Abstraction, by definition, limits the amount of data that is available about a given topic at one time. It's bad to be flooded with too much data, so abstraction is clearly "good".

Specification, by definition, gives specific details about a specific scenario. It's often important to get all specifics down to know what's going on, so specification is clearly "good".

The two terms are opposites.

Deciding how much information you want to specify, and how much should be left abstracted is a central problem for communications. Computer programming is all about communications: both a computer (via a programming language), and to fellow programmers ( via your choice of individual programming elements and constructs, as well as explict comments and documentation).

If you have to ask: "Can there be too much of <X>", the answer is usually "yes".


In reply to Re^2: Is too much abstraction a bad thing? by Anonymous Monk
in thread Is too much abstraction a bad thing? by silent11

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