Class, object, method, attribute

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) Vocabulary

• class - a blueprint consisting of methods and attributes
• object - an instance of a class. It can help to think of objects as something in the real world like a yellow pencil, a small dog, a blue shirt, etc. However, as you'll see later in the lesson, objects can be more abstract.
• attribute - a descriptor or characteristic. Examples would be color, length, size, etc. These attributes can take on specific values like blue, 3 inches, large, etc.
• method - an action that a class or object could take
• OOP - a commonly used abbreviation for object-oriented programming
• encapsulation - one of the fundamental ideas behind object-oriented programming is called encapsulation: you can combine functions and data all into a single entity. In object-oriented programming, this single entity is called a class. Encapsulation allows you to hide implementation details much like how the scikit-learn package hides the implementation of machine learning algorithms.

In English, you might hear an attribute described as a property , description , feature , quality , trait , or characteristic . All of these are saying the same thing.

Here is a reminder of how a class, object, attributes and methods relate to each other.

QUIZ QUESTION: :

Match the vocabulary term on the left with the examples on the right.

ANSWER CHOICES:

Object

Class

Attribute

Method

Value

Term	Examples
scientist, chancellor, actor
color, size, shape
gray, large, round
Stephen Hawking, Angela Merkel, Brad Pitt
to rain, to ring, to ripen

SOLUTION:

Term	Examples
scientist, chancellor, actor	Class
color, size, shape	Attribute
gray, large, round	Value
Stephen Hawking, Angela Merkel, Brad Pitt	Object
to rain, to ring, to ripen	Method