[W/K] :: object-oriented programming

  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.
       
          http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/OOinfo/FAQ/).html">FAQ (http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/OOinfo/FAQ/).
          http://zgdv.igd.fhg.de/papers/se/oop/).html">(http://zgdv.igd.fhg.de/papers/se/oop/).
          http://cuiwww.unige.ch/Chloe/OOinfo).html">(http://cuiwww.unige.ch/Chloe/OOinfo).
       
          Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.object.
       
          (2001-10-11)