Defining Classes for Objects

Object-oriented programming enables you to develop large-scale software and GUIs effectively. A class defines the properties and behaviors for objects. Object-oriented programming (OOP) involves programming using objects. An object represents an entity in the real world that can be distinctly identified. For example, a student, a desk, a circle, a button, and even a loan can all be viewed as objects. An object has a unique identity, state, and behavior.

• The state of an object (also known as its properties or attributes) is represented by data fields with their current values. A circle object, for example, has a data field radius, which is the property that characterizes a circle. A rectangle object has the data fields width and height, which are the properties that characterize a rectangle.
• The behavior of an object (also known as its actions) is defined by methods. To invoke a method on an object is to ask the object to perform an action. For example, you may define methods named getArea() and getPerimeter() for circle objects. A circle object may invoke getArea() to return its area and getPerimeter() to return its perimeter. You may also define the setRadius(radius) method. A circle object can invoke this method to change its radius.

Objects of the same type are defined using a common class. A class is a template, blueprint, or contract that defines what an object’s data fields and methods will be. An object is an instance of a class. You can create many instances of a class. Creating an instance is referred to as instantiation. The terms object and instance are often interchangeable. The relationship between classes and objects is analogous to that between an apple-pie recipe and apple pies: You can make as many apple pies as you want from a single recipe. Figure below (a) shows a class named Circle and its three objects.

A Java class uses variables to define data fields and methods to define actions. Additionally, a class provides methods of a special type, known as constructors, which are invoked to create a new object. A constructor can perform any action, but constructors are designed to perform initializing actions, such as initializing the data fields of objects. Figure below (b) shows an example of defining the class for circle objects.

The Circle class is different from all of the other classes you have seen thus far. It does not have a main method and therefore cannot be run; it is merely a definition for circle objects. The class that contains the main method will be referred to in this book, for convenience, as the main class.

The illustration of class templates and objects in Figure above (a) can be standardized using Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation. This notation, as shown in Figure below, is called a UML class diagram, or simply a class diagram.

In the class diagram, the data field is denoted as

dataFieldName: dataFieldType

The constructor is denoted as

ClassName(parameterName: parameterType)

The method is denoted as

methodName(parameterName: parameterType): returnType