This chapter introduces you to the object-oriented paradigm by comparing and contrasting it with something familiar: standard structured programming.
The object-oriented paradigm grew out of a need to meet the challenges of past practices using standard structured programming. By being clear about these challenges, we can better see the advantages of object-oriented programming, as well as gain a better understanding of this mechanism.
This chapter will not make you an expert on object-oriented methods. It will not even introduce you to all of the basic object-oriented concepts. It will, however, prepare you for the rest of this book, which will explain the proper use of object-oriented design methods as practiced by the experts.
In this chapter,
I discuss a common method of analysis, called functional decomposition.
I address the problem of requirements and the need to deal with change (the scourge of programming!).
I describe the object-oriented paradigm and show its use in action.
I point out special object methods.
I provide a table of important object terminology used in this chapter on page 21.