DTO
In plain terms
A simple object for transferring data between layers or systems.
Going deeper
A Data Transfer Object carries data without behavior, used to move information across boundaries efficiently. It's a plain data container.
Under the hood
Decouples internal models from external contracts; reduces over-fetching and shapes API responses.
Examples
API request/response bodies, layer boundaries, serialization, view models.
Think of it like...
Like a shipping box that just holds and moves contents without doing anything itself.