Introduction to object-oriented programming

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a way of organizing the code in a program by grouping it into objects. The term object in this sense means an individual element that include information (data values) and functionality. When you use an object-oriented approach to organizing a program you group particular pieces of information together with common functionality or actions associated with that information. For example, you could group music information like album title, track title, or artist name with functionality such as “add track to playlist” or “play all songs by this artist”. These pieces are combined into a single item, an object (for example, an “Album” or “MusicTrack”). Bundling values and functions together provides several benefits. One key benefit is that you only needing to use a single variable rather than multiple ones. In addition, it keeps related functionality together. Finally, combining information and functionality allows you to structure programs in ways that more closely match the real world.