ObjectOrientedProgrammingConcepts

If you've never used an objectoriented programminglanguage before, you'll need tolearna fewbasicconceptsbeforeyoucanbeginwritinganycode. learnthisbasicsthings.. WhatIsanObject? An object is a softwarebundleofrelatedstateandbehavior.Softwareobjectsareoftenused to model the realworld objectsthatyou find in everyday life. This lessonexplainshowstate and behaviorare representedwithinanobject, introducestheconceptofdataencapsulation, andexplainsthebenefitsofdesigningyoursoftwareinthismanner.

WhatIsaClass?
A class is a blueprint or prototype from which objects are created. This section defines a class that models the stateandbehaviorofarealworldobject.Itintentionallyfocusesonthe basics,showinghowevenasimpleclasscancleanlymodelstateandbehavior. In the real world, you'll often find many individual objects all of the same kind. There may be thousands of other bicycles in existence, all of the same make and model. Each bicycle was built from the same set of blueprints and therefore contains the same components. In objectoriented terms, we saythatyourbicycleisaninstanceoftheclassof objectsknownasbicycles.Aclassistheblueprintfromwhichindividualobjectsarecreated. ThefollowingBicycleclassisonepossibleimplementationofabicycle: classBicycle{ intcadence=0 intspeed=0 intgear=1 voidchangeCadence(intnewValue){ cadence=newValue } voidchangeGear(intnewValue){ gear=newValue } voidspeedUp(intincrement){ speed=speed+increment }

voidapplyBrakes(intdecrement){ speed=speeddecrement } voidprintStates(){ System.out.println("cadence:"+ cadence+"speed:"+ speed+"gear:"+gear) } } The syntax of the Java programming language will look new to you, but the design of this class isbasedonthepreviousdiscussionofbicycle objects.Thefieldscadence,speed,and gear represent the object'sstate,andthemethods(changeCadence,changeGear,speedUp etc.)defineitsinteractionwiththeoutsideworld. You may have noticed that the Bicycle class does not contain a main method. That's because it'snot a complete application it's just theblueprint forbicyclesthatmightbeused in an application. The responsibility of creating and using new Bicycle objects belongs to someotherclassinyourapplication. Here's a BicycleDemo class that creates two separate Bicycle objects and invokes their methods: classBicycleDemo{ publicstaticvoidmain(String[]args){ //Createtwodifferent //Bicycleobjects Bicyclebike1=newBicycle() Bicyclebike2=newBicycle() //Invokemethodson //thoseobjects bike1.changeCadence(50) bike1.speedUp(10) bike1.changeGear(2) bike1.printStates() bike2.changeCadence(50) bike2.speedUp(10) bike2.changeGear(2) bike2.changeCadence(40) bike2.speedUp(10) bike2.changeGear(3) bike2.printStates()

} }

Theoutputofthistestprintstheendingpedalcadence,speed,andgearforthetwobicycles: cadence:50speed:10gear:2 cadence:40speed:20gear:3

WhatIsInheritance?
Inheritance provides a powerful and natural mechanism for organizing and structuring your software. This section explains how classes inherit state and behavior from their superclasses, and explains how to derive one class from another usingthe simple syntax providedbytheJavaprogramminglanguage.

WhatIsanInterface?
An interface is a contract between a class andthe outsideworld.Whenaclassimplements an interface, it promises to provide the behavior published by that interface. This section defines a simple interface and explains the necessary changes for any class that implementsit.

WhatIsaPackage?
A package is a namespace for organizing classes and interfaces in a logical manner. Placing your code into packages makes large software projects easier to manage. This section explains why this is useful, and introduces you to the Application Programming Interface(API)providedbytheJavaplatform.