Object-oriented Programming

Object-oriented programming (OOP) originated in the SIMULA language (1967) for discrete event simulation. The desire was to simulate large numbers of similar objects in an efficient manner. A class/instance representation achieves this goal.

• Class: represents the behaviors that are shared by all of its instances. Behaviors are implemented by methods.

• Instance: represents the data for a particular individual.

Classes are arranged in a hierarchy or ontology, with inheritance of methods from higher classes.