Introducing Object-Oriented
Programming (OOP)
Goals
By the end of this lecture, you should …
Understand the three pillars of Object-Oriented
Programming: Inheritance, Encapsulation and
Polymorphism.
Understand what an object is.
Understand object attributes, methods and events.
Understand how programmers use APIs.
Programming Languages
Programming languages allow programmers to code
software.
The three major families of languages are:
Machine languages
Assembly languages
High-Level languages
Machine Languages
Comprised of 1s and 0s
The “native” language of a computer
Difficult to program – one misplaced 1 or 0 will cause
the program to fail.
Example of code:
1110100010101
111010101110
10111010110100
10100011110111
Assembly Languages
Assembly languages are a step
towards easier programming.
Assembly languages are comprised
of a set of elemental commands
which are tied to a specific
processor.
Assembly language code needs to be
translated to machine language
before the computer processes it.
Example:
ADD 1001010, 1011010
High-Level Languages
High-level languages represent a giant leap towards
easier programming.
The syntax of HL languages is similar to English.
Historically, we divide HL languages into two groups:
Procedural languages
Object-Oriented languages (OOP)
Procedural Languages
Early high-level languages are typically called
procedural languages.
Procedural languages are characterized by sequential
sets of linear commands. The focus of such languages is
on structure.
Examples include C, COBOL, Fortran, LISP, Perl, HTML,
VBScript
Object-Oriented Languages
Most object-oriented languages are high-level
languages.
The focus of OOP languages is not on structure, but on
modeling data.
Programmers code using “blueprints” of data models
called classes.
Examples of OOP languages include C++, Visual
Basic.NET and Java.
Object Oriented Programming
Object – Unique programming entity that has methods,
has attributes and can react to events.
Method – Things which an object can do; the “verbs” of
objects. In code, usually can be identified by an
“action” word -- Hide, Show
Object Oriented Programming
Attribute – Things which describe an object; the
“adjectives” of objects. In code, usually can be
identified by a “descriptive” word – Enabled, BackColor
Events – Forces external to an object to which that
object can react. In code, usually attached to an event
procedure
Object Oriented Programming
Class – Provides a way to create new objects based on a
“meta-definition” of an object (Example: The
automobile class)
Constructors – Special methods used to create new
instances of a class (Example: A Honda Civic is an
instance of the automobile class.)
OOP - Encapsulation
Incorporation into a class of
data & operations in one
package
Data can only be accessed
through that package
“Information Hiding”
OOP - Inheritance
Allows programmers to create new classes based on an
existing class
Methods and attributes from the parent class are
inherited by the newly-created class
New methods and attributes can be created in the new
class, but don’t affect the parent class’s definition
OOP - Polymorphism
Creating methods which
describe the way to do some
general function (Example:
The “drive” method in the
automobile class)
Polymorphic methods can
adapt to specific types of
objects.
Classes and Objects
A class is a data type that allows
programmers to create objects. A class
provides a definition for an object,
describing an object’s attributes (data)
and methods (operations).
An object is an instance of a class. With
one class, you can have as many objects
as required.
This is analogous to a variable and a data
type, the class is the data type and the
object is the variable.
Is JavaScript an OOP
language?
Well, not really …
We call JavaScript an "object-inspired" language
It uses objects by way of supporting inheritance and
encapsulation, but it doesn't really provide support for
polymorphism.
“Object-Oriented” JavaScript
More like “Object-Inspired” JavaScript
We can create new, custom, re-usable objects in
JavaScript that include their own methods, properties
and events.
Consider the following problem: “I want to record the
color, brand, horsepower and price of several cars.”
Solution without OOP Design
Uses parallel arrays
Can be confusing
Difficult to keep track of which car has which color, brand, etc.
Example:
What is an API?
API stands for Application Programming Interface
Allows programmers to extend the current language to
included customized components
Most modern languages incorporate APIs
Solution with OOP Design
Calls to an API that contains the custom car object
Much cleaner code
Re-usable object
Questions?
