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, often known as
attributes; and code, in the form of procedures, often known as
methods. A distinguishing feature of objects is that an object's procedures can access and often modify the data fields of the object with which they are associated (objects have a notion of "
this" or "self"). In OO 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.
