Inversion of control (IoC) is a design principle in software engineering that refers to the reversal of control flow in a program.

Traditionally, in a typical application, the flow of control is dictated by the application code itself.

However, with IoC, the control flow is shifted to a framework or container that manages the application's components and their interactions. This paradigm shift allows for greater flexibility and extensibility in software development.

Instead of the application code directly calling and managing the various components it relies on, IoC delegates this responsibility to a container or framework.

This container is responsible for instantiating, configuring, and managing the lifecycle of these components, allowing the application code to focus on its core functionality. One of the key benefits of IoC is improved modularity and separation of concerns.

By decoupling the components of an application and delegating control to a central container, developers can more easily swap out components, add new functionality, or modify existing features without having to make extensive changes to the application code. IoC is commonly implemented through techniques such as dependency injection, where the dependencies of a component are provided to it by an external entity, rather than being created within the component itself.

This promotes loose coupling between components, making the codebase more maintainable and testable. Overall, inversion of control is a powerful design principle that promotes flexibility, modularity, and maintainability in software development.

By shifting control flow to a central container or framework, developers can create more robust and scalable applications that are easier to manage and extend over time.