ARCHIVE / What is a wrapper?

"Wrapper" is a term used in computer programming to describe a class, function, procedure or other data object that provides indirect access to already existing data objects.  Wrappers can be extremely helpful in a number of ways.  If, for example, a separate procedure may need to be run prior to or after another procedure being run from different points within a software program, putting the target procedure in a wrapper allows programmers to only change the wrapper to enable the new functionality instead of modifying every piece of software code that calls the target procedure.  Alternatively, if similar but different functionality is needed in different contexts, a wrapper can be used to determine the context and use the appropriate data object.  Also, if a target data object is likely to change over time, a wrapper can be used to provide a common access point by which to change all calls to the revised data object.

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