Beginning Programming with C++ For Dummies®

Chapter 21. What Is Object-Oriented Programming?

In This Chapter

• Abstracting away the details

• Contrasting the object-oriented approach with the functional approach

• Classifying things

Examples of objects abound in everyday life. Right in front of me is a chair, a table, a computer, and a red Starbucks mug. I have no trouble grouping these objects into taxonomies based upon their properties. For example, the mug is a container, it's also a thermal insulator, so I can use it to hold hot or cold things, and it has mass, so that I can use it as a paperweight or to throw at the dog. Object-oriented programming applies this view of the world to that of programming. To explain what I mean, let me start with a story.

Abstraction and Microwave Ovens

Sometimes when my son and I are watching football, I whip up a batch of nachos. Nothing fancy, mind you — I dump some chips on a plate, throw on refried beans, cheese, and a batch of jalapenos, and nuke the lot in the microwave oven for five minutes. To use the oven, I open the door, place the nachos inside, punch some buttons on the front, and hit start. After a few minutes, the bell rings to tell me they're done. If I do something wrong, the oven beeps at me and doesn't start. Sometimes it displays an error message on the little display.

This doesn't sound very profound, and it isn't really until you consider all the things that I don't do to use my microwave oven:

• I limit myself to the front panel of the microwave. I don't look inside the case. I don't ...