Data Structures and Algorithms: BRIDGES

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of objects, which are data structures that contain data, in the form of fields (or attributes) and code, in the form of procedures, (or methods). A distinguishing feature of objects is that an object’s procedures provide access to and modify its fields.

In object-oriented programming, computer programs are designed by making them out of objects that interact with one another. There is significant diversity in object-oriented programming, but most popular languages are class-based, meaning that objects are instances of classes, which typically also determines their type.

Object orientation is an outgrowth of procedural programming. Procedural programming is a programming paradigm, derived from structured programming, based upon the concept of the procedure call. Procedures, also known as routines, subroutines, or methods define the computational steps to be carried out.

Any given procedure might be called at any point during a program’s execution, including by other procedures or itself. Procedural programming is a list or set of instructions telling a computer what to do step by step and how to perform from the first code to the second code. Procedural programming languages include C, Fortran, Pascal, and BASIC.

The focus of procedural programming is to break down a programming task into a collection of variables, data structures, and subroutines, whereas in object-oriented programming it is to break down a programming task into objects that expose behavior (methods) and data (fields) using interfaces. The most important distinction is that while procedural programming uses procedures to operate on data structures, object-oriented programming bundles the two together, so an object, which is an instance of a class, operates on its “own” data structure.