Captain Abstraction

Captain Abstraction is the champion of the principles of abstraction and modularity. He protects unwary programmers from the nefarious designs of Sergeant Spaghetticode and his vile concrete programming practices.

Capt. A. responds to distress calls across the globe from programmers who are tempted by the sirenous seductions of the slithery Sgt. S. Wielding his mighty Abstraction Barrier, and often with the help of his trusty sidekick, Abstraction Bear-ier, Captain Abstraction fends off his fearful foe by helping to establish the appropriate separation between clients and implementers of code. On rare occassions, Capt. A. has been heard singing a mystical song to chase away Sgt. S.

Captain Abstraction's first recorded appearance was in a recitation section of MIT course 6.001 (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs) in Fall, 1986. For a number of years, he made regular appearances in 6.001 lectures and recitation sections, often in response to attacks from his diabolical arch-nemesis. In the late 90s, the Captain was seen only sporadically, but in the new millenium the frequency of reported sightings has increased, especially in the vicinity of Wellesley College.

The Captain's purple (sometimes blue) outfit is complemented by a fiery red cape, mask, and lambda symbol emblazoned on his chest.