Why OOP?

Why Learn an Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) Language?

15 August 2000
Joel E. Tohline

Principal Reasons to Learn OOP
- Widely used in C.S. Communities (especially C++ and Java);
- Excellent concept for projects requiring "team" development;
- Java, especially, is totally integrated with the internet and has visualization tools built into its language libraries;
- In wide use by private industry ==> you'll have very marketable skills.
Excuses Not to Learn OOP
- Fairly steep learning curve;
- Execution speed not competitive with Fortran or C (especially Java !);
- Doesn't link easily to non-OOP languages.
Principal Differences Between OOP Languages and Fortran/C
- Heavy reliance on existing libraries;
- Each "function or subroutine" is composed of one or more "constructor" and zero or more "methods";
- Many different types of "variables" (objects) than just characters, numbers, and boolean;
- Documentation is particularly critical.
Some Introductory Examples
- Java course;
- Building your own color (see especially example #1.2.c);
  Sun's meaning of Color;
- Sun's meaning of Everything!;
- Main Routine (Java Applet);
  GeneralStar Class;
- Vibrating Sphere by Parker Altice (LSU)