The Power of Abstraction: How Linux and FFmpeg Build Extensible Media Frameworks

This article explores how Linux and FFmpeg achieve code extensibility through abstraction and interfaces. Linux's "everything is a file" philosophy, using the `file_operations` structure to define a common interface for file operations, allows various resources (network sockets, special files, USB devices) to be accessed uniformly. FFmpeg employs a similar strategy, using abstract concepts like `AVCodec` to easily add new codecs and formats; the integration of DAV1d exemplifies this design's advantages. The article uses Ruby, Go, and C code examples to illustrate different ways to implement abstract interfaces in various programming languages, ultimately highlighting the crucial role of good software design in improving code maintainability and extensibility.