What is the main purpose and application of the Repository pattern in software architecture?

The Repository pattern is used to abstract access to data and manage it. Its main task is to separate the business logic layer from the details of data storage (whether it is a database, web service, or local cache). This simplifies code maintenance and testing, as the business logic interacts with the repository without worrying about how data is stored or retrieved.

Example of a repository interface in C#:

public interface IUserRepository
{
    User GetUserById(int id);
    void AddUser(User user);
    void RemoveUser(int id);
}

Thus, the repository acts as an intermediary between the business logic and the data source.