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• Object-oriented programming is not simply a few new features added to programming languages. It is a new way of thinking about the process of decomposing problems and developing programming solutions.
• Object-oriented programming views a program as a collection of objects. Each object is responsible for specific tasks. It is by interaction of objects that computation proceeds.
• An object is an encapsulation of data and operations on the data.
• Every object is an instance of some class. The behaviour of objects is dictated by their class. All instances of the same class will behave similarly.
• An object will exhibit its behaviour by invoking a method in response to a message. The interpretation of the message is decided by the object and may differ from one class to another.
• Classes can be organized in a hierarchical way. Data and operations on the data associated with classes higher in the hierarchy can be inherited by classes lower in the hierarchy.
• By reducing the interdependency among software components, object-oriented programming permits the development of reusable software. These components can be developed and tested independently.
• Reusable components permit the programmer to deal with problems on a higher level of abstraction. We can define and manipulate objects simply in terms of the messages they understand and a description of the tasks they perform, ignoring the implementation details.