C H A P T E R 10

Classes and
Object-Oriented
Programming

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 Topics
• Procedural and Object-Oriented
Programming
• Classes
• Working with Instances
• Techniques for Designing Classes

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 Procedural Programming
• Procedural programming: writing
programs made of functions that
perform specific tasks
• Procedures typically operate on data items
that are separate from the procedures
• Data items commonly passed from one
procedure to another
• Focus: to create procedures that operate on
the program’s data

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Object-Oriented Programming
• Object-oriented programming: focused
on creating objects
• Object: entity that contains data and
procedures
• Data is known as data attributes and
procedures are known as methods
• Methods perform operations on the data attributes
• Encapsulation: combining data and
code into a single object
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Object-Oriented Programming
(cont’d.)

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Object-Oriented Programming
(cont’d.)
• Data hiding: object’s data attributes are
hidden from code outside the object
• Access restricted to the object’s methods
• Protects from accidental corruption
• Outside code does not need to know internal
structure of the object
• Object reusability: the same object can
be used in different programs
• Example: 3D image object can be used for
architecture and game programming
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Object-Oriented Programming
(cont’d.)

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 An Everyday Example of an
Object
• Data attributes: define the state of an
object
• Example: clock object would have second,
minute, and hour data attributes
• Public methods: allow external code to
manipulate the object
• Example: set_time, set_alarm_time
• Private methods: used for object’s
inner workings
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 Classes
• Class: code that specifies the data
attributes and methods of a particular
type of object
• Similar to a blueprint of a house or a cookie
cutter
• Instance: an object created from a
class
• Similar to a specific house built according to
the blueprint or a specific cookie
• There can be many instances of one class
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 Classes (cont’d.)

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 Classes (cont’d.)

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 Classes (cont’d.)

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 Class Definitions
• Class definition: set of statements that
define a class’s methods and data
attributes
• Format: begin with class Class_name:
• Class names often start with uppercase letter
• Method definition like any other python
function definition
• self parameter: required in every method in the
class – references the specific object that the
method is working on
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 Class Definitions (cont’d.)
• Initializer method: automatically
executed when an instance of the class
is created
• Initializes object’s data attributes and assigns
self parameter to the object that was just
created
• Format: def __init__ (self):
• Usually the first method in a class definition

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Class Definitions (cont’d.)

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 Class Definitions (cont’d.)
• To create a new instance of a class call
the initializer method
• Format: My_instance = Class_Name()
• To call any of the class methods using
the created instance, use dot notation
• Format: My_instance.method()
• Because the self parameter references the
specific instance of the object, the method will
affect this instance
• Reference to self is passed automatically
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Hiding Attributes and Storing
Classes in Modules
• An object’s data attributes should be
private
• To make sure of this, place two underscores
(__) in front of attribute name
• Example: __current_minute
• Classes can be stored in modules
• Filename for module must end in .py
• Module can be imported to programs that use
the class

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 The BankAccount Class –
More About Classes
• Class methods can have multiple
parameters in addition to self
• For __init__, parameters needed to create
an instance of the class
• Example: a BankAccount object is created with a
balance
• When called, the initializer method receives a value to be
assigned to a __balance attribute
• For other methods, parameters needed to
perform required task
• Example: deposit method amount to be deposited
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 The __str__ method
• Object’s state: the values of the
object’s attribute at a given moment
• __str__ method: displays the object’s
state
• Automatically called when the object is
passed as an argument to the print function
• Automatically called when the object is
passed as an argument to the str function

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 Working With Instances
• Instance attribute: belongs to a specific
instance of a class
• Created when a method uses the self
parameter to create an attribute
• If many instances of a class are
created, each would have its own set of
attributes

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 Accessor and Mutator
Methods
• Typically, all of a class’s data attributes
are private and provide methods to
access and change them
• Accessor methods: return a value from
a class’s attribute without changing it
• Safe way for code outside the class to retrieve
the value of attributes
• Mutator methods: store or change the
value of a data attribute
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 Passing Objects as
Arguments
• Methods and functions often need to
accept objects as arguments
• When you pass an object as an
argument, you are actually passing a
reference to the object
• The receiving method or function has access
to the actual object
• Methods of the object can be called within the
receiving function or method, and data attributes
may be changed using mutator methods
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 Techniques for Designing
Classes
• UML diagram: standard diagrams for
graphically depicting object-oriented
systems
• Stands for Unified Modeling Language
• General layout: box divided into three
sections:
• Top section: name of the class
• Middle section: list of data attributes
• Bottom section: list of class methods
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 Finding the Classes in a
Problem
• When developing object oriented
program, first goal is to identify classes
• Typically involves identifying the real-world
objects that are in the problem
• Technique for identifying classes:
1. Get written description of the problem domain
2. Identify all nouns in the description, each of
which is a potential class
3. Refine the list to include only classes that are
relevant to the problem

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 Finding the Classes in a
Problem (cont’d.)
1. Get written description of the problem
domain
• May be written by you or by an expert
• Should include any or all of the following:
• Physical objects simulated by the program
• The role played by a person
• The result of a business event
• Recordkeeping items

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 Finding the Classes in a
Problem (cont’d.)
2. Identify all nouns in the description,
each of which is a potential class
• Should include noun phrases and pronouns
• Some nouns may appear twice

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 Finding the Classes in a
Problem (cont’d.)
3. Refine the list to include only classes
that are relevant to the problem
• Remove nouns that mean the same thing
• Remove nouns that represent items that the
program does not need to be concerned with
• Remove nouns that represent objects, not
classes
• Remove nouns that represent simple values
that can be assigned to a variable

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 Identifying a Class’s
Responsibilities
• A classes responsibilities are:
• The things the class is responsible for
knowing
• Identifying these helps identify the class’s data
attributes
• The actions the class is responsible for doing
• Identifying these helps identify the class’s methods
• To find out a class’s responsibilities
look at the problem domain
• Deduce required information and actions
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 Summary
• This chapter covered:
• Procedural vs. object-oriented programming
• Classes and instances
• Class definitions, including:
• The self parameter
• Data attributes and methods
• __init__ and __str__ functions
• Hiding attributes from code outside a class
• Storing classes in modules
• Designing classes

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