Glossary: Class
Objects are miniature programs, consisting of both code and data.
Every object belongs a class which is like a object factory; each time
a new object is needed, it is built
(or instantiated),
using information supplied by
the class. The class contains all the code
(i.e. member functions)
and a description of the object data
(i.e. data members)
Building a object involves:-
- Allocating space for its personal copy of data
members
- Calling its initialisation member function
(i.e. its constructor)
When an object is no longer needed:-
- Its termination member function
(i.e. its destructor)
is called
- The space it occupied is released.
Note that, although
each object has its own copy of the data, they all share
a single copy of the code.
See:-
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Nick West