IB Computer Science - OOP Definitions

Object Oriented Programming definitions

Aggregation

when a class is contained and used by another class

Class

a blueprint defining all needed attributes and methods

Constructor

a method with the same name as a class that instantiates an object of that class

Encapsulation

the practise of hiding a class’s data using private accessor methods so that it is only accessible from within that class

Identifier

the (unique) name of a program element like a variable, method or class

Inheritance

when a new class (subclass) is derived from an existing class (superclass), inheriting all the superclass’ variables and methods

Instantiation

when a new object is created from a class

Method signature

it defines a method’s parameters and their data types, name, return type and access modifier

Object

an abstract entity that has data and/or actions/methods

Object reference

a pointer to a memory location where the object is stored

Parameter variable

the value passed

Polymorphism

when a method with the same name but different parameters is created and depending on the given parameters, one of the methods is executed

Primitive data type

data types that are predefined in the programming language and always assigned a value in memory

Recursion

a programming technique where a method calls itself

Static

the variable is only declared once