Object Oriented Programming (OOP) emphasizes the following
concepts
Class
A class may be defined as a self contained unit that
encapsulates a collection of data and methods that operate on the data. Basically
there are three access modifiers that are used in a class. They are public,
private and protected. A public member is both accessible and inheritable.
A private member cannot be accessed from the outside world;
nor can it be inherited. A protected member is inheritable, but cannot be
accessed from outside of the class hierarchy. We can say that a protected
member is an inheritable private member.
Object
An object may be defined as an instance of a class that can
send and receive messages and process data. The software objects are used to
model the real-world objects that are common in every day life. Real-world
objects share two characteristics:
·
State
·
Behavior
Method
A method is a way of operating on an object. A method can
have either the private, public or protected visibility label. The visibility
label of a member of the class indicates how much of the class is exposed to
the outside world.
Inheritance
This is a feature by virtue of which a child class inherits
its parent. A subclass inherits all the members of its base, except those that
are private. A sub class may have one or more base classes, i.e. it can be
inherited from one or more bases. Such type of inheritance is known as
Multiple Inheritance. A sub class can also extend the behavior of its
inherited members and add new members. Here it needs to be mentioned that
there are two relationships in OOPS- "has-a" and "is-a." The
former indicates a composition, while the later indicates inheritance. Inheritance
offers the following benefits:
·
Reusability
·
Implement Abstract Data Types
Encapsulation
Encapsulation is a property of OOPS that combines the data
and the members of a class inside a unit resulting in an isolation of the unit
from the external world. It exposes only the functional details, but hides the
implementation details of the class.
The benefits of encapsulation:
·
Modularity
·
Information-hiding
Abstraction
Abstraction is the ability of a program to ignore the
details of an object's (sub)class and work at a more generic level when
appropriate. Abstraction is a concept or idea that is not related to any
particular instance. It is the process of identifying common patterns that can
have systematic variations. The purpose of an Abstract class is to provide a
common definition that the subclasses can share.
Polymorphism
Polymorphism is behavior that varies depending on the class
in which the behavior is invoked. In other words, two or more classes can react
differently to the same message. Polymorphism is the ability of the objects to
react differently when presented with different information, known as
parameters. In a functional programming language the only way to complete two
different tasks is to have two functions with different names. Object-oriented
languages, which include Java, allow different methods to be run depending on
what types of parameters are specified. The word Polymorphism is derived from
two Greek words, namely Poly and Morphos. Poly indicates many and Morphos
indicates forms. Therefore, it is the existence of the same thing in different
forms.
Polymorphism can be of the following types.
·
Static or Compile Time Polymorphism
·
Dynamic or Runtime Polymorphism
Static Polymorphism is the polymorphism that occurs at
compile time. In static polymorphism the binding or that association of an
object of a class and its member occurs at compile time. Overloaded
constructors of a class and polymorphic non-virtual methods are classic
examples of Static or Compile Time Polymorphism. Dynamic Polymorphism refers
to the polymorphism that occurs at run time. It is achieved using Virtual
Methods. In dynamic polymorphism the binding or that association of an object
of a class and its member occurs at run time.
Instantiation
Instantiation is the ability of a non-abstract class to
create a finite number of objects. An instance of a class is commonly known as
an object.
Sealed and Final Classes
A sealed class in C# or a final class in Java is one that
can be instantiated, but not inherited.
Message
Objects can interact and communicate with each other in the
same or across different systems using messages. A message is comprised of the
addressee, the method name and the parameters. When an object wants to invoke
a method on another object, it sends the later a message.
Interface
In general, an interface is a device or a system that
unrelated entities use to interact. According to this definition, a remote
control is an interface between you and a television set, the English language
is an interface between two people, and the protocol of behavior enforced in
the military is the interface between individuals of different ranks. You use
an interface to define a protocol of behavior that can be implemented by any
class anywhere in the class hierarchy.
