Do we really teach abstraction?

Abstract

Abstraction is one of the cornerstones of software development and is recognized as a fundamental and essential principle to be taught as early as CS1/CS2. Abstraction supposedly can enhance students' ability to reason and think. Yet we often hear complaints about the inability of CS undergraduates to do that. Do we supply students with the tools they need to reach their potential to think carefully and to reason rigorously about software behavior? Typically we do not, but as educators there are techniques we can use to help our students develop such skills starting in CS1/CS2.