• The object-oriented programming model

 A new way to solve programming challenges.

 Organization of information abstracted as a collection of objects.

 Each object encapsulates a collection of related information.

 The information can only be accessed by the object's methods.

 An incorrect data alteration is isolated to a handful of methods.

• An example of a collection of objects

 The following is a diagram of an intricate object-oriented home heating system, which was prepared by Peter Coad.

 Each rounded rectangular shape is an object class definition. The name of the class appears within the top of the rounded rectangle.

 Class variables are in the second section of the class definition.

 All variables are encapsulated within their class definition.

 Class methods are in the final section of the class definition.

 Lines between the class definitions identify the relationships between the classes.

 The optional 1,m qualifier on a line indicates the multiplicity of the relationship -- one-to-many.

 The default multiplicity is one-to-one.