In many layered systems, some conflicts when concepts at a high level of abstraction need to be translated into lower, more concrete artifacts. This mismatch is often called semantic gap.

For example, semantic gap denotes the difference between the complex operations performed by high-level language constructs and the simple ones provided by computer instruction sets. It was in an attempt to try to close this gap that computer architects designed increasingly complex instruction set computers. As compiler technology got better, the gap was closed by automatic translation of high level constructs to low level instructions, and now CISC computers are less common.

On the other hand OODBMSs (object-oriented database management system) advocates sometimes claim that these databases help to reduce the semantic gap between the application domain (miniworld) and the storage structures ^*.

Semantische Lücke | Intervalo semántico