[1] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

object-oriented programming
     
         oop the use of a class of programming
        languages and techniques based on the concept of an "object"
        which is a data structure abstract data type encapsulated
        with a set of routines, called "methods", which operate on
        the data.  operations on the data can _only_ be performed via
        these methods, which are common to all objects that are
        instances of a particular "class".  thus the interface to
        objects is well defined, and allows the code implementing the
        methods to be changed so long as the interface remains the
        same.
     
        each class is a separate module and has a position in a
        "class hierarchy".  methods or code in one class can be
        passed down the hierarchy to a subclass or inherited from a
        superclass.  this is called "inheritance".
     
        a procedure call is described as invoking a method on an
        object which effectively becomes the procedure's first
        argument, and may optionally include other arguments.  the
        method name is looked up in the object's class to find out how
        to perform that operation on the given object.  if the method
        is not defined for the object's class, it is looked for in its
        superclass and so on up the class hierarchy until it is found
        or there is no higher superclass.
     
        oop started with simula-67 around 1970 and became
        all-pervasive with the advent of c++, and later java.
        another popular object-oriented programming language oopl is
        smalltalk, a seminal example from xerox's palo alto
        research center parc.  others include ada, object
        pascal, objective c, dragoon, beta, emerald, pool,
        eiffel, self, oblog, esp, loops, polka, and
        python.  other languages, such as perl and vb, permit,
        but do not enforce oop.
     
        faq http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/ooinfo/faq/.
        http://zgdv.igd.fhg.de/papers/se/oop/.
        http://cuiwww.unige.ch/chloe/ooinfo.
     
        usenet newsgroup: news:comp.object.
     
        2001-10-11
     
     
see also:
object abstract data type methods class module class hierarchy 
subclass superclass inheritance procedure argument 
simula-67 c++ java smalltalk xerox 
palo alto research center ada object pascal objective c dragoon 
beta emerald pool eiffel self 
oblog esp loops polka python 
perl vb lt;faqgt; lt;http://zgdv.igd.fhg.de/papers/se/oop/gt; lt;http://cuiwww.unige.ch/chloe/ooinfogt; usenet lt;news:comp.objectgt; 

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