Information hiding for programmers is done to prevent system design change. If the design decisions are hidden, then certain program code cannot be modified or changed. Information hiding is usually done for internally changeable code, which is sometimes specially designed not to be exposed. Such stored and derived data most generally is not expounded upon. Change resilience of classes and ease of use by client objects are two byproducts of hidden data.
In 1972, David Parnas introduced the idea of information hiding. He believed that critical design systems should be hidden from clients and front end users. He defined information hiding as a way in which clients could be shielded from internal program workings. For example, a calculation producing a given result may be hidden. It follows a model of functionality that can be described as a type of information hiding. One advantage of information hiding is yielding flexibility, such as allowing a programmer to more readily modify a program. This may also be done by placing source code within modules for easy access at a later stage as the program is developed and evolved.
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