Final answer:
In programming, a module is a separate unit of software that encapsulates code and data, serving as a container for functions, variables, classes, or interfaces. It helps organize code, reduce namespace pollution, and promote code reuse and modularity in program design.
Step-by-step explanation:
In programming, a module refers to a separate unit of software or a part of a program that contains one or more routines. A module encapsulates code and data, which provides a namespace where functions, variables, and classes or interfaces can be defined. This structure helps keep related code organized and reduces namespace pollution where different pieces of code might otherwise have the same names.
Modules are not a type of loop, a data structure, or an object in object-oriented programming as such. Instead, they are more like containers or libraries of functions, classes, or variables that can be reused in different parts of an application. In some languages, such as Python, using modules can help avoid the repetition of code and make maintenance easier by isolating different functionalities into their own namespaces.
Languages like JavaScript and Python encourage the use of modules for structuring larger applications. By importing a module, you can use its properties and methods without having to rewrite those functionalities. Thereby, modules promote code reuse and modularity in program design.