Abstraction is a fundamental concept in programming that involves simplifying complex systems by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable parts. It allows programmers to hide the implementation details and complexity of a system, exposing only the essential features and functionality to users and other parts of the code.

Abstraction helps in managing complexity, promoting code reusability, and making it easier to maintain and modify the code. It can be achieved in various ways, including the use of functions, classes, and interfaces.

In object-oriented programming, abstraction is often implemented through inheritance and polymorphism, which allow the creation of abstract classes or interfaces that define a common set of properties and methods for related subclasses.