Which term best describes the process of making a program more understandable by reducing complexity?

The term that best describes the process of making a program more understandable by reducing complexity is abstraction. Abstraction involves simplifying a complex system by focusing on its essential features while hiding the underlying details. This process allows programmers to concentrate on higher-level concepts and operations instead of getting bogged down by the intricate workings of the code.

By implementing abstraction, developers can create clearer and more manageable programs. For example, using functions or classes to encapsulate specific functionality can enable easier comprehension and better organization of code. This approach helps in reducing cognitive load for the programmer and aids in maintaining the code over time.

While other options like iteration, encapsulation, and modularization also play significant roles in programming, they do not specifically target the reduction of complexity for the sake of understanding in the same way that abstraction does. Iteration refers to the repetition of a process, encapsulation deals with bundling data and methods that operate on the data, and modularization involves dividing the program into smaller, distinct modules. Each of these contributes to program structure and efficiency but does not directly focus on the simplification of ideas and concepts inherent to abstraction.