In this tutorial, we will delve deeper into the concepts of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). OOP is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data in the form of fields (often known as attributes or properties) and code in the form of procedures (often known as methods).
What is OOP?
OOP is a methodology that structures a software program into several interacting objects. Each object represents some entity in the real world, and has a set of attributes (data) and behaviors (functions or methods).
Key Concepts of OOP
- Class: A blueprint for creating objects. It defines the properties and methods that the objects will have.
- Object: An instance of a class. Objects have state and behavior.
- Inheritance: The process by which one class acquires the properties and methods of another class.
- Polymorphism: The ability to perform a function or operation in more than one way.
- Encapsulation: The bundling of data and methods that operate on data into a single unit called a class.
Inheritance
Inheritance allows a class to inherit properties and methods from another class. This is a powerful concept in OOP, as it allows for code reuse and promotes a more modular design.
Types of Inheritance
- Single inheritance
- Multilevel inheritance
- Hierarchical inheritance
- Hybrid inheritance
Polymorphism
Polymorphism allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. This is achieved through method overriding and method overloading.
Types of Polymorphism
- Compile-time polymorphism (method overloading)
- Runtime polymorphism (method overriding)
For more information on OOP, check out our Basic OOP Tutorial.