Learning Object Oriented Programming in C++

My personal opinion is that despite its slightly slower execution speed, OOP, or Object Oriented Programming, is one the best programming concept invented -- just as good as the multitasking OS and compiled libraries. OOP is really just trying to model individual objects in the world. This allows for natural-thinking -- what you would expect something to do in real life also does the same thing in code. If programmed correctly you could basically end up "speaking English" to the objects in your program or game. Users of Visual BASIC or Visual C++ will pick up this since it is an object-oriented language -- each control in the GUI is a type of object.

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter I Introduction to OOP Thinking in OOP Layering Containership Inheritance Chapter II The Syntax of OOP Prototypes Data Hiding Defining Functions Defining Small Functions Using the Code Syntax Quibbles Chapter III Using OOP A Real Programming Example Constructors and Destructors Passing Data to the Constructor Data Hiding Revisted

Chapter IV Inheritance and Containership Building Cars Object Interaction/Control Inheritance Initalizer Lists Derivation Using Derived Classes Data Hiding in Inheritance Chapter V Linked Lists Using Pointers with Classes/Structs Introducing the Linked List Linked Lists vs Arrays Interface to the Linked List Creating the LinkList Adding Links Getting the Data Deleting Elements Other Functions Chapter VI Virtual Functions Pointers and Derived Classes The Virtual Keyword Virtual Destructors

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Foreword

You will notice that throughout this tutorial I will leave a lot of code out and only will show how it goes together. Object Oriented Programming, or OOP, is a method of breaking down your code into smaller, simpler, and easier to understand blocks of code. I assume that you already know how to code up to the point of understanding structs and pointers, and are ready to move to OOP, which is one of the main uses for pointers.

To get the most from this tutorial, copy the examples and fill in the code yourself. You will find that most of the functions only require a few lines of code -- and this is the point of OOP. After you get the class to work, add your own features, or rewrite the class using a different approach. If you have a question, try it in code, and if it doesn't compile or run correctly, that answers it. If you really get stuck, need extra help, or see an error in the tutorial, I am always glad to recieve your mail.

Note that I have not directly tested and compiled all this code. If you copy the code and have any runtime or compile errors, or something happens you don't think should, PLEASE by all means contact me.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and learn a lot from it.

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Proceed to Chapter One -- An Introduction to OOP