Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that revolves around objects and classes.
Classes define the structure and behavior of objects, while objects are instances of those classes. This makes it easier to model real-world entities and relationships in your code.
OOP in Python is built around four main principles: encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction.
Key Concepts of OOP
- Class: A blueprint for creating objects. It defines attributes (data) and methods (functions) that objects created from the class will have.
- Object: An instance of a class, containing specific data and the ability to perform actions via methods.
- Encapsulation: The bundling of data and methods that operate on that data within a single unit (class). It restricts direct access to some of an object's components and provides controlled access through methods.
- Inheritance: The ability of a new class (child class) to inherit properties and methods from an existing class (parent class), promoting code reuse.
- Polymorphism: The ability to define methods in a base class and override them in derived classes, allowing the same method name to behave differently based on the object it is called on.
Why OOP?
- Organizes code into manageable modules.
- Promotes reusability through classes and inheritance.
- Makes complex programs easier to understand and maintain.
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