Object Oriented Programming

I've seen a lot of talk about OOP, but i've never actually understood what all the fuss is about, so I was just wondering if anyone could explain the following to me:

• What are the advantages of OOP?
• How is OOP actually used?
• Why is there such a big fuss over it?

Thanks.

maybe the wiki will shed a light:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-...ed_programming

It may be a little high spec, but have a very brief look at UML
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59898

Entire discussion on SitePoint.

Simply put, OOP just makes the code much cleaner with less syntax needed for bigger PHP projects.

Just because PHP 5 now has great support for OOP people are feeling the need to code using OOP. I still have not got into OOP yet. I have used it a bit but still find that function orientated code and arrays fit all my needs.

I think I have a quite unique way of coding. I find the use of global arrays great for big applications and often don’t see other programmers using them that much. I tend to plan what my script will need to do in steps and then sort them into functions. I manage to keep my code very clean and easy to understand.

Great sitepoint thread, I'm reading through that now.

As i understand it a big advantage, but not the only, to OOP is code re-useability. Also some languages can only be written using OOP (i think lol), thats pretty much all i know .

Yeah re-useability is what I always hear but isnt that the same case for functions?

Also I hear OOP helps organise your code better but I dont like it when a file has something like 6 long functions in it and you have to struggle scrolling through the file to find something which can be the case with classes.

Isn't having a class effectivly like having a function that will run through some sub functions and then finally return an array.

Originally Posted by paaaaaaaaaa Yeah re-useability is what I always hear but isnt that the same case for functions? Also I hear OOP helps organise your code better but I dont like it when a file has something like 6 long functions in it and you have to struggle scrolling through the file to find something which can be the case with classes. Isn't having a class effectivly like having a function that will run through some sub functions and then finally return an array.

Classes can do more than just group functions together. You can use them together with less lines of code and also manipulate the vars used within the class/functions.

in regards to php the logic behind oop is very simlar to just having a file full of functions, but they're not the same. if you know how, oop can be used far more effectively and effeciently.

i am not one of these people so i can't tell you how. none the less, i use classes to drive most of my scripts.

in a wierd way of thinking, think of php classes like css clases. look at it this way: you have a people class, which has a method that returns personal data (name, address, phone, email etc). compared to a strict file full of functions nothing's different. but now you're writing an employees class that returns personal + employee data (personal + employee num, position, etc). with inheritance you don't have to re-write anything, you can just extend and add on as you need it.

just like in a css file:
.calendar-month inherists everything from .chartHeading and saves me from re-writing it. the formatting is obviously different, but the logic is still there, and i'm sure it's an example that you'll get.

Also, with PHP OOP, you have inheritance, polymorphism, you can extend classes with other classes, etc. It's much more than a class with functions in it.