RE: "new to Java" question...

The object thing is one of those concepts that makes you think "that was
too simple" when you get it.  Somehow it's taken on an aura of mystery.
Object oriented program is a lot like building a machine composed of
independent sub assemblies.  Each sub assembly is a black box.  The only
thing visible to the outside world is its interface.  You give it
something and it gives you something back. Put the bread in the toaster
and get back toast. The interface probably includes some sort of degree
of toastedness parm or parms.  As long as you get the parms right you
get what you want. You don't have to  know anything about the innards of
the toaster. 

An object is better than a function or procedure because it supports a
whole bunch of stuff that's invisible to the user and can do a lot of
things for you with its visible (public) methods **and** can be made
into something else.  Consider the toaster oven.  It is related to a
toaster but can do baking and broiling too.  It may use other objects
like a clock. 

IMHO, getting the object thing is something people need to do before
they write code that does real work.  It's ok to fool around with the
syntax to learn it, but it's not ok to write even a small app
procedurally.  A good Java book will have exercises that get you into
object use from the beginning.  You probably will notice the OO
properties of OS/400 once you get started.

Disclaimer--analogies are always simplifications and should be taken for
what they're worth.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: java400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:java400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Shane_Cessna@xxxxxxx
> Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 11:07 AM
> To: Java Programming on and around the iSeries / AS400
> Subject: Re: "new to Java" question...
>
> Joe,
>
> Thanks for the explanation...since I'm new to Java
> programming I'd imagine my first program is gonna look a
> little less like Java and more like C...since I don't really
> understand the whole OO picture yet...
>
> (hence, most of my variables are global and all methods are
> in one class)
>
> Shane Cessna
> iSeries Programmer
> iSeries WAS Administrator
> North American Lighting, Inc.
> (618) 662-4483 x2776
> shane_cessna@xxxxxxx
>
>
>

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