Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses objects and their interactions to design applications and computer programs. It is one of the most popular programming paradigms in use today, and Python fully supports OOP.
- Classes: A class is a blueprint for creating objects (a particular data structure), providing initial values for state (member variables or attributes), and implementations of behavior (member functions or methods). For example, consider a class for a dog:
In this example, the class Dog has two member variables name and breed and two member functions bark() and display().
- Objects: An object is an instance of a class. You can create an object of a class by using the class name followed by parentheses. For example:
- Inheritance: Inheritance is a mechanism that allows you to define a new class that is a modified version of an existing class. The new class is called a subclass, and the existing class is called the superclass. The subclass inherits all the attributes and methods of the superclass.
For example, let’s say you have a superclass called Animal and a subclass called Dog:
In this example, the class Dog inherits the attributes and methods of the class Animals. The class Dog has a new attribute breed and a new method bark().
- Polymorphism: Polymorphism is the ability of a single function or method to work with different types of data. For example, you can have a function that takes any object as an argument and calls the display() method on it, regardless of the actual type of the object. In Python, polymorphism is achieved through the use of function and method overloading and method overriding.
- Encapsulation: Encapsulation is the practice of keeping the internal state of an object hidden from the outside world, and providing a public interface for interacting with the object. In Python, encapsulation is achieved through the use of private and protected member variables and methods, and the use of getter and setter methods to access and modify the internal state of an object.
Here is an example of encapsulation:
In this example, the variables __name and __breed are private variables and can only be accessed or modified by methods within the class. The get_name() and set_name() methods provide a way to access and modify the internal state of the object while keeping it hidden from the outside world.
I hope this explanation helps you understand the concepts of OOP in Python, and that it will be useful.
