Method

Object-Oriented Programming

Software Engineering

Object-oriented programming, known as OOP, is a programming paradigm built around objects, software entities that encapsulate both data and the functions that operate on it, with a program consisting of objects that interact with one another. A programming language is described as object-oriented if it provides features supporting this style, though because the exact set of features that count as object-oriented is itself debated, how fully any given language qualifies is not always settled, and since programming paradigms are not mutually exclusive, a single language can support object-oriented programming alongside other paradigms at once. Widely used languages with object-oriented support include C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Swift and Objective-C, among many others.

Facts
Core Principle
Software is organized as objects, entities that encapsulate their own data together with the functions that act on it, and a program consists of these objects interacting with one another. 1
Origin Year
1967 1
Process Family
Computing 1
FAQs

Did Alan Kay invent objects in programming?

No, the idea of objects came from Simula, as a 1981 Byte magazine issue on Smalltalk said.

No. Alan Kay is sometimes credited with inventing objects, but the idea came from the Simula language. A 1981 Byte magazine issue that helped popularize Smalltalk and object-oriented programming said that the fundamental idea of objects, messages, and classes came from Simula.
Connections

In Field

Sources
1. Object-Oriented Programming (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
  • lead paragraph, opening clause
    Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on objects
  • History section, sentence on Alan Kay using the term
    By 1967, Kay was already using the term "object-oriented programming" in conversation.
  • Introduction
    Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on objects, software entities that encapsulate data and function(s).
  • In Group: Software Requirements and Architecture Practices, Lead section
    Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on objects, software entities that encapsulate data and function(s).
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