What is the role of a repository in software architecture?

The repository in software architecture is responsible for abstracting data access. It encapsulates the logic of interacting with the data source (e.g., a database), providing a convenient interface for retrieving, saving, and updating objects. This allows separating business logic from data storage details, facilitating maintenance and testing.

Example in Java using the Repository pattern:

public interface UserRepository {
    User findById(Long id);
    void save(User user);
}

public class UserRepositoryImpl implements UserRepository {
    // Implementation of database access
    public User findById(Long id) {
        // database query
    }
    public void save(User user) {
        // save to database
    }
}