object oriented Paradigm:

The object-oriented approach came into picture to eliminate some of the disadvantages found in the procedural approach. OOP treats data as a critical element in the program development and does not allow it to flow freely around the system. It ties data more closely to the functions that operate on it and protects it from unintentional modification by other functions. OOP allows us to decompose a problem into a number of entities called Objects and then build data and functions (known as methods in Java) around these entities. The combination of data and methods make up an object

Object = Data + Methods

The data of an object can be accessed only by the methods associated with that object. However, methods of one object can access the methods of other objects. Some of the features of object-oriented paradigm are:

· Emphasis is on data rather than procedure.

· Programs are divided into what are known as Objects.

· Data structures are designed such that they characterize the objects.

· Methods that operate on the data of an object are tied together in the data structure.

· Data is hidden and cannot be accessed by external functions.

· Objects may communicate with each other through methods.

· New data and methods can be easily added whenever necessary.

· Follows bottom-up approach in program design.