Last updated on May 25th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
Programming a computer application is not an easy task. It takes a lot of time and effort to write a useful computer program. Computer Applications are built to solve real-life problems, but there was a time when computer programming was considered a problematic task. Because the programmers used the procedural-oriented & structural-oriented programming methods to write a program which is a good paradigm but it wasn’t capable of writing large & complex programs containing repetitive code. To avoid the code repetition and complexity of programs Object-Oriented Programming concept was introduced.
The object-Oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses the model objects of real-world things and items in programming to produce the best solution with a short and smart code. It is the most suitable and compatible method for programming large and complex programming.
Features of Objected-Oriented Programming
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Classes: In OOP classes are templates or blueprints, also known as logical entities, and are used to define the logic. Classes don’t occupy the memory space till objects are defined in them. For example, the signing-up form is a class and the form is a template. Until the data is submitted the signup class doesn’t occupy any space.
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Objects: These are the instances of a class primarily used to define the state or behavior of an object. Objects are created to define some specific information known as attributes such as the state of any object like the Cup object is filled with tea. Objects can also hold information about behavior and actions known as methods like the object Pen can write and Jet can fly.
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Inheritance: This is the most useful feature of OOP that enables us to avoid the repetition of code. Inheritance allows us to use or copy the properties of another class. For example: Suppose a programmer defines a class Computer which has properties like display, processor, RAM, & storage and he has to define another class Smart Phone which also has to define the same properties, here the inheritance comes to make the life easier.
OOP Inheritance has five types.
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Single (Simple) Inheritance: When a class Y inherits the data from class X it is called the single inheritance because there were only two classes involved, class X is said to be the parent class and class Y is said to be the derived class.
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Multi-level Inheritance: When a class Z inherits the data from class Y and Class Y inherited the data from class X (in a chain format) this is said to be the multi-level inheritance. The parent class can be a single class but the derived classes can be multiple.
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Multiple Inheritance: When a class Z inherits the data from classes X and Y separately. In multiple inheritance, there is a single derived class and multiple parent classes.
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Hierarchical Inheritance: This is the absolute opposite of multiple inheritance. In hierarchical inheritance, there is a single parent or base class and multiple derived classes.
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Hybrid Inheritance: This is nothing but the combination of two types of inheritances.
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Polymorphism: This term is a combination of two Greek words POLY & MORPHISM. Poly means many and morphism means forms. The term polymorphism is used for the objects having the same code but many behaviors. Any real-world object that has multiple forms can be an example of polymorphism likewise a person can have many attributes at the same time like he can be a friend or an enemy, a consumer and a manufacturer, a doctor and a patient, etc.
Polymorphism has two main types.
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Compile Time (Early-binding) Polymorphism: Compile time polymorphism also known as static polymorphism and is achieved at the compilation stage. It has two types.
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Function (Method) Overloading: When there are many functions with the same names but have different parameters like different types & a different number of arguments is called function overloading.
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Operator Overloading: When an operator either symbol or name has multiple use-cases is called operator overloading.
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Runtime (Late-binding) Polymorphism: Runtime polymorphism is also known as dynamic polymorphism. It is achieved at the execution stage of a program. Method overriding is a technique used to achieve runtime polymorphism. While writing a program, method overriding can be performed by writing the data i.e. method name & parameters same everywhere either in subclasses or in super classes.
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Encapsulation: This is nothing but the grouping of a chunk of code into a single unit like a capsule. The data and methods are bound or wrapped in a class and that data can’t be accessed from outside of the class. Only the native methods or member functions can access the data. In simple, we can say that encapsulation is a technique for hiding the data.
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Abstraction: This object-oriented programming feature is used to handle privacy-related issues. It is used to hide the working mechanism and internal data of a program and shows useful and essential data to the user. For example, you can see abstraction on search engines. Whenever your search queries are entered many functions are executed in the background but only the search results are shown to the user nothing else.
Procedural-Oriented Programming Vs Object-Oriented Programming
Conclusion
Object-Oriented Programming is the best method to achieve DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). OOP reduced the working time and effort over the decades. It enabled the programmers to divide the problem into multiple small problems and solve it by relating them to real-world objects. OOP is a fundamental concept used in high-level programming. Many high-end computer applications and programs are designed just because of the OOP paradigm. The modern realistic games we enjoy today are all developed using object-oriented programming concepts. In short, Object-Oriented Programming is a way to build smart computer applications with less effort and in a short time.