To: Prof. Ellis
From: Hamzat Olowu
Date: Oct. 6, 2021
Subject: 500-Word Summary of Article About Object-oriented Programming (OOP)
The following is a 500-word summary of a peer-reviewed article about object-oriented programming (OOP) and its role in computing. The authors discussed the traditional procedural approach and how OOP made it obsolete. According to Hinsch et al., “Applications today do not offer the consistency and flexibility needed to make the computing environment more productive for end-users.” [1, p. 1]
The complexity of programming projects led to the popularity of the Object-oriented programming (OOP) approach, this is because the approach breaks down a complex problem into smaller and simpler chunks of problems that are isolated and then solved. This approach to problem solving led to OOP being much easier to read and understand. OOP was such a unique and refreshing concept that it quickly rose to fame after it was devised, the invention of C++ and Object Pascal made the concept break into the technical community and more articles have been written that surrounds the OOP approach.
Applications without OOP concepts are not as consistent and as flexible as the ones made with OOP concept, this is making programming more difficult because technologies keep expanding and the traditional approach to problem solving and programming can’t keep up. There are many benefits that OOP has to offer, not only for programmers but for the users as well, these benefits include manipulating objects easily on a desktop, system-level services that does not need the user’s knowledge to run, and control of apps with scripts. For developers, using OOP will allow them to improve productivity and development of applications that needs a graphical interface will become easier.
There are three different groups that will be affected in different ways by the advent of object-oriented programming. The first is the power user, although a power user will not recognize the programming concepts, they will still realize that problems are easier to solve, and their jobs is easier. The second is the general business programmer, who will have a better time when developing graphical based application and database applications, because they will be developing these applications with ease unlike before. Systems-level developer are the ones that fully understands the full capabilities of OOP, using the OOP and its tool they will create the most innovative and complex applications, through which they will contribute the most to the expansion of the computing industry.
Before OOP approach was the traditional procedural approach which are too linear in nature to be used when there is interaction with the user or other programs. Traditional programming can get repetitive when trying to accomplish the same task but on different objects like delete character, delete word, and delete paragraph. This was one of the disadvantages the OOP solved. The primary approach to OOP is to enclose data into what is known as classes, which are a group of objects sharing the same methods and information. Classes can have subclasses that inherits data and methods from the parent classes, this concept is called Inheritance. This makes it possible to reuse software codes which simplifies integration of other applications which also increases productivity while decreasing programming time.
Reference: [1] Hinsch, Kathryn, et al, (1990). “Object-oriented programming: its role in computing,” Library Software Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 18+, Jan.-Feb. 1990. Gale Academic OneFile.
