What is Object-Oriented Programming?

For many PHP programmers, object oriented programming is an intimidating concept, 0:00 because it introduces new syntax and seemingly complex terminology. 0:05 At a glance, object oriented programming can appear to be far more complex 0:10 than simple procedural or inline code. 0:15 However, this doesn't have to be the case. 0:18 As you'll see, object oriented programming 0:21 is actually similar to the way we perceive the real world. 0:24 That means an object oriented approach 0:28 can help you visualize the solution to a problem more easily. 0:30 Object oriented programming or OOP for short, is a style of coding that 0:34 allows developers to group similar tasks into containers. 0:39 In php, containers are defined using classes. 0:43 A class contains all the functions and variables that define an object. 0:47 These functions are called methods and the variables are called properties. 0:53 [SOUND] To give you a real world example of this, let's take a look at a house. 0:56 A house defined by a blueprint which shows the layout, rooms and 1:01 exact design for the house. 1:06 Each house has attributes like walls, a roof, windows and doors. 1:09 They also have actions such as open the door or turn on the light. 1:15 The blueprint could be the class. 1:21 It's not a house itself, but it describes how a house should be built, 1:23 with relationships between the different parts of the house clearly defined and 1:27 planned out. 1:31 The walls, roof, windows, and doors are properties. 1:33 While opening the door and turning on the lights are methods. 1:37 As I just mentioned a blueprint is not a house. 1:42 But you use a blueprint to build new houses. 1:45 Each time a new house is built, we create a new object, a house object. 1:49 If our blueprint is a class named house, 1:55 we can build an entire subdivision of houses based on this blueprint. 1:58 This is called instantiating an object or creating an instance of an object. 2:03 Each house object shares the properties and methods of the house class. 2:10 But the individual values for each house may be different. 2:14 My house may have brown walls and a red roof. 2:19 While your house could have white walls and a blue roof. 2:23 Grouping code into these containers, or classes, can make it easier to 2:28 follow the tenant, don't repeat yourself, or D-R-Y, dry for short. 2:32 One of the major benefits in following the DRY principle is that, 2:37 if a piece of information changes in your program, 2:41 you usually only need to change the code in one place. 2:44 One of the biggest nightmares for developers, 2:48 is maintaining code where data is declared over and over again. 2:50 If something goes wrong tracking down the error can be like looking for 2:56 a needle in a haystack. 3:00 As you hunt for duplicated data and 3:01 functionality, sometimes finding that needle can be painful. 3:03 This course is designed to teach you the why and 3:08 how of object oriented programming. 3:11 Before we jump feet first into the how, 3:14 let's get a little more familiar with the why. 3:16