When I need classes?

[Mike S]

On 1/11/2016 3:45 PM, Travis Griggs wrote:
>
>> On Jan 10, 2016, at 9:48 AM, Bernardo Sulzbach <mafagafogigante at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Essentially, classes (as modules) are used mainly for organizational purposes.
>>
>> Although you can solve any problem you would solve using classes
>> without classes, solutions to some big problems may be cheaper and
>> more feasible using classes.
>
> As a long term OO purist practitioner, I would add to this. Obviously, you can organize your code any way you want, with or without classes. You could put all your functions with an odd number of letters in one class, and all of the even numbered ones in another class.
>
> Having listened to the guy (Alan Kay) who coined the term (Object Oriented Programming) quite a bit over the years, I believe that the focus of OO (of which classes are a particular implementation approach) is to bind behavior to data. In “traditional” programming approaches, one focused on the algorithm (behavior) first, and then figured out what data needed to flow where to get the job done. Classes provided a mechanism to turn that equation, generally speaking, around. One thinks about the data first, and then figures out what behavior binds best to that data. And how that data will interact (inter-object behavior, often called messages) to get your job done. For some (many) problems, this can be a real win. And for some, not so much.
>
> I think, this is often why, for a simple script, OO just kind of gets in the way. You have a straightforward procedure that you just want to do. The state (data) is not rich enough to make making it the focal point of your program.

Well said, thanks!