Learning object oriented thinking [closed]

Answer 1

Haha. I remember that point. The whole "how the hell does this oo thing work?". Just keep at it, at some point it just clicks. It really is like a lightbulb going on. One moment it doesn't really make sense and then a split second later you're coding everything up in classes.

Try downloading some of the open source tools you will likely end up using and read the code. It'll give you something to reference your code style against.

Answer 2

Just remember there is never 1 solution to a problem. Turning everything into a class is also not the solution. Especially tiny things (like the gauge) might very well be an int or float member inside the plot class like you had.

My suggestion is that practice is a good teacher. Just keep on trying, and keep on reading. In time you'll be more and more fluent.

Answer 3

A simple way to come up with a reasonable set of things which probably should be objects (and hence, classes): write down a problem description of your task, like:

On a camping site there are guests, and each guest has access to a few outlets. The software should be able to manage the power consumed by each guest, so it should know the outlets used by a guest and the power consumed through each outlet.

Now, create a list of all the nouns for a good idea of what classes (= kind of objects) are involved in your problem:

• Camping Site
• Guest
• Outlet
• Power

This is not necessarily a definitive list, but it's a good start.

Answer 4

For me OO didn't 'click' until I read a book about design patterns. If you're already comfortable with concepts like abstract classes, interfaces, etc that's only half the battle.

The next step is figuring out why you should prefer composition over inheritance, how to code to an interface and how to write your classes so that they are decoupled and well-encapsulated. Design patterns show you solutions to common OO problems and help you structure your code adhering to the above guidelines.

I can't recommend any particular books about C++ but the GOF book is the standard on Design Patterns (Java). I prefer books that talk about design patterns in a particular language so that you can get concrete code examples. Design Patterns In Ruby is pretty good, as is PHP: Objects, Patterns and Practice.

I get the feeling that your instructor doesn't particularly know what he's talking about. 'More classes' is pretty useless advice by itself.

Answer 5

Peter Coad and Ed Yourdon wrote a book about it couple years ago. While not filled with new overhyped methdologies, this book provides good foundation for thinking in object style.

Answer 6

In my opinion, one of the the best books I've read for learning object oriented concepts is:

The Object-Oriented Thought Process

For me, this book really gets you thinking in an object oriented way (well, the clue's in the title! :) It's fairly language agnostic, containing some small code samples throughout the text in VB.NET, C# and Java and frequently references many "greats" in the world of OO analysis and design, like Grady Booch, Martin Fowler and others.

Since the book helps you to think in an object oriented way, it'll often take a specific example and show the differences between the OO way of approaching a problem and the procedural way. This can be a big help if you're coming from more or a procedural background. It also touches on things like UML to help explain and understand the design behind complete libraries of classes (e.g. frameworks) and the interaction between classes and also the design of rich class hierarchies using concepts such as aggregation and composition.