Modeling Information

Object-Oriented Concepts ๏ Model: simplified description

๏ Used to make decisions,
CSE 114: Computer Science I make predictions, and
Stony Brook University simulate processes
๏ Models are an abstraction
๏ They reduce complexity by
only considering relevant data

Object-Oriented Programming
Models and Software
๏ An object-oriented program uses objects to model the
๏ Models are used to maintain information and problem domain (the things we have to work with)
answer queries about something
๏ Objects are constructed from data and program code
๏ We can implement models using software
๏ Topics to consider:
๏ An object is a block of code that represents one
element of a model ๏ Designing objects

๏ Objects track information about some part of the ๏ Implementing objects

problem ๏ Advanced concepts: access modifiers and static
 What is an Object, Anyway?
Object Queries
๏ Objects are a very natural way to view the world around us
๏ Query: question to which an object can respond
๏ Ex. People, things, even non-physical stuff (i.e., a bank account)
๏ Queries are always directed to a specific object, and
๏ Objects are defined in terms of attributes and behaviors answered by that object
๏ Attribute: properties that an object has (e.g., eye color, height,
weight) ๏ Answers are based on the object’s attributes

๏ Behavior: actions that an object can perform (e.g., walk, speak, pick ๏ Answers can take any form: T/F, integer, etc.
up)
๏ An object can only respond to pre-programmed
๏ An object is an entity that contains both data and behavior
queries (methods/messages)

Objects Are Self-Managing Procedural Programming

๏ Most older programs use a Function 1 Function 2

procedural methodology
๏ An object contains all of the functions (methods, representing
“behavior”) that need to operate on its data (“attributes”) ๏ Program code is divided into distinct
functions or procedures
๏ This is called encapsulation, which means that an object is
๏ Data is stored separately, and passes
responsible for managing its own data through these procedures Data

๏ An object may hide its contents from the rest of the program ๏ Data may be stored globally

๏ This protects our data from mischief and can conceal how we ๏ This means that data is uncontrolled
represent and manipulate data inside an object and unpredictable — there is no
way to protect data from other parts
of the program Function 3 Function 4
Objects Are Safer Than Global Data Storage Object-Oriented Programming Example
๏ Objects are the building blocks of an OO program
๏ In an OO program, data is distributed among objects; there is
no central “pile” of program data ๏ An OO program is a collection of interacting objects
๏ An object contains all of the functions (methods, representing ๏ Example: Employee management software
“behavior”) that need to operate on its data (“attributes”)
๏ This system must maintain information about
๏ This is called encapsulation, which means that an object is employees
responsible for managing its own data
๏ Each employee will be represented by a unique object
๏ An object may hide its contents from the rest of the program
๏ What kinds of data should these objects store?
๏ This protects our data from mischief and can conceal how we
represent and manipulate data inside an object ๏ What kinds of behaviors should these objects provide?

Classes and Objects

๏ Attributes ๏ Every object is defined by a class
๏ Employee name, Social Security #, date of birth, date of ๏ A class is a template for objects of that type — it
hire, pay rate describes the types of data and the behaviors that each
object of that type has

๏ Behaviors ๏ If two objects have identical behaviors and attribute

types, they belong to the same class
๏ Set/get each of the values above, calculate pay for a given
number of hours ๏ A specific object is called an instance of its class
๏ e.g., you and your neighbor are instances of the Student
class (same kinds of data, different actual data)
 The Anatomy of a Class
Classes and Instances
๏ A class contains two types of elements:
๏ Instance data — variables representing an object’s
attributes
๏ Instance methods — methods (code) that define an
object’s behaviors
๏ Each class is defined using the Java keyword “class”
๏ Curly braces enclose the data and method
Each ball has has the same shape, but a unique size and color declarations that make up the class

Class Definition Example

class Example // defines a new data type called “Example”

{

instance variable declarations go here...
 Object Methods


instance method definitions go here...
 ๏ Besides data, objects contain methods — blocks of code that
} operate on that data
๏ Normally, every class is defined in a separate source file named ๏ e.g., a Point class might have methods to change the
for the class values of its x and y coordinates
๏ If this is done, the keyword “public” must be written before ๏ Methods provide a way for objects to communicate with one
“class” another
๏ If several classes are defined in the same file, exactly one must ๏ Methods must be defined inside a class
be declared “public” and share the name of the file.
 Access Modifiers
General Access Guidelines
๏ A class may restrict access to its methods and variables
๏ You should always make the variables in your objects
๏ The keyword public means that something is freely private by default
accessible inside and outside the class
๏ This prevents unauthorized modifications
๏ The keyword private means that a variable or method can
only be seen or used by methods inside the class ๏ Methods should be public only if other classes may
๏ If no access modifier is used, the variable or method can only have a good reason to call them; otherwise, they
be seen/used by classes in the same package should be declared private
๏ A package is a group of related files ๏ Private methods may only be used within their class

Public Methods Public Methods

Method Method
Designing Classes
Method Method Data

Hidden Method ๏ To design an object, you need to determine:

Data Method Method
๏ What data it needs to represent
Hidden Methods ๏ What behaviors/methods it should have
Method
Objects communicate ๏ What other objects it may work with
with one another via
Method ๏ One way to do this is via CRC cards
their public methods
 Introduction to CRC Cards

๏ A CRC (class, responsibilities, and collaborators) card Robot

represents and summarizes a single class or object type
Street (X coordinate) World
Avenue (Y coordinate) Beeper
๏ Each card contains a class name, its responsibilities (on Direction faced
the left), and the helper classes it needs (on the right) # of beepers held

Move forward
๏ You can use index cards to do this, or just make notes Turn left
Pick up beeper
on paper Put down beeper

Source: http://www.agilemodeling.com/artifacts/crcModel.htm

Another Style of Summary

Robot Class Name

- name: String
- modelNumber: int
- currentDirection: char
- currentXCoordinate: int
Attributes
Format: name : type
Working With Objects
- currentYCoordinate: int
- itemsHeld : int
๏ Before we can use an object in our program, we must
create a new instance of that object
+ getCurrentDirection () : char
+ turnLeft () : void
+ moveForward (distance : int) : void Behaviors ๏ We need to create a variable that represents that
+ pickUp () : void
+ drop () : void
Format: name ( input ) : return_type object
๏ After we create the object, we can send messages to
๏ A UML class diagram provides a summary of the attributes and
behaviors for a given class it

+ = “publicly-accessible” ๏ These messages tell the object to do various things

- = “not publicly-accessible” ๏ Every object has its own set of possible actions
 Primitive and Reference Data
Creating An Object ๏ Primitive data has a known memory size (based on its type)

๏ To create (instantiate) an object: ๏ This memory can be requested when the program loads
๏ For other information, we may not know its exact size at
๏ Declare a new variable to hold the object
launch time, or its size may change as the program
๏ Use the keyword new to create the object: executes

MyClass foo = new MyClass( ); ๏ Memory for this data must be allocated on the fly

๏ “new” invokes an object’s constructor ๏ We need two things to store and use this data:

๏ A constructor is a special behavior (method) that ๏ A block of RAM for the actual data
creates a new object of a specific type
๏ A pointer (reference) to that block of memory
๏ It has the same name as the type

Primitives vs. References

๏ Consider the following declarations:
int num;
num
String name;
๏ Primitive variables hold an actual value
name
๏ An object variable only holds the address of an
object!
๏ No String object actually exists yet
๏ Initially, name is null (it doesn’t point to anything)
 Object Initialization
num = 42; num 42

name = new String(“John Smith”);

• The keyword “new” instantiates (creates) a new name “John Smith”
object in memory
• “new” returns the memory address of the new
object
• An object is an instance of a class

Object Assignment
name1 “Ada Lovelace”
๏ Remember that an object variable stores an
address
๏ If we assign one object to another, they both name2
point to the same memory address
String name1 = “Ada Lovelace”;
String name2 = “Grace Hopper”;
name2 = name1;
 Speaking To Objects
Object References ๏ A message tells an object to do something
• Object variables are references to values ๏ A message consists of the object’s name, followed by a
• We can only access an object if we have a reference to “dot” (period), followed by the behavior name and
it argument list

• When all references to an object are lost, we can no ๏ Messages are terminated by a semicolon
longer access it
myRobot.move();
• Java automatically garbage collects (reclaims) Reference to

Argument list
unreferenced objects the object Behavior to

execute

Constructors More on Constructors

๏ A constructor is a special method that is used to • A constructor has the same name as the class
instantiate (“construct”) a new object
• A constructor has NO return type
๏ Constructors have the same name as the class
• If (and only if) no constructors are defined, Java
๏ Constructors set the initial values of the object’s provides a class with a default constructor
attributes
• This constructor takes no parameters and does not
๏ These values may be predefined in the constructor or assign any specific values to the object’s variables
passed in as arguments when the object is instantiated
• A class may have multiple constructors
 Working With Class Members
Instance vs. Class Members
๏ To declare that a variable or method is shared by all of the
๏ By default, variables and methods inside a class are instance instances of a class, use the keyword static
variables/methods
๏ A static variable only exists once for all instances of a class
๏ They exist independently for every instance of that class — its value is shared

๏ This also means that they cannot be used without first ๏ Static methods can only call other static methods or
creating an instance of that class variables; they cannot use instance methods/variables

๏ We can also create class variables/methods ๏ To refer to a static member, add the class name:
๏ They can be used without first instantiating a class ๏ e.g., System.in (in is a static part of the System class)