OOP in VB

OOP Principles An object – in memory – has –Some data values members –Pieces of executable code methods Objects usually come and go during execution – dynamic not static Objects belong to a class – the type of the object An object is an instantiation of the class

OOP Principles- Encapsulation Contrast with structured programming, where global data is processed by functions Encapsulation = enclosing the data in an object Other code (in other classes) cannot change the data in an object No global data in pure OOP High level of modularity Data members should be private Accessor methods of the class control access Changes are (should be) validated

Typical classes (objects are nouns) Application-specific classes – –employee, invoice, contract, purchase order –dust particle in graphics for simulation System classes –UI – window, form, button, slider –System – thread, file, socket

Inheritance A class can be designed as a variation on another class (the base or ancestor class) The subclass inherits all the members and methods of the base class Supports code re-use – do not have to start from scratch

Polymorphism Sub-classes can have new or different data members of methods So can have variations on a theme eg a button is a sub-class of a window

Object lifetime An object is 'made' at run-time Using the keyword new Good OOP languages have constructors which make new objects and destructors to end objects and free up memory

References In VB (and Java) classes are reference types References are (hidden) pointers No (exposed) pointers in VB or Java In VB use Set eg- Dim myObject as myClass ' say what type it is Set myObject = new myClass ' actually make one Dim object2 as myClass ' another reference Set object2 = myObject ' to the same object

Garbage collection GC is when memory manager reclaims memory occupied by objects no longer needed – reused as free memory In C++ can explicitly destroy objects – memory reclaimed then In VB – system counts the number of references – when =0, GC happens Only important for large arrays of large objects

Classes in VB Class defined in a class module (name = name of class) Inside the class module you –declare private data members –methods as public or private sub or functions –Property Get or Let to access private data members

Add Class module to project In Project.. Add class module Change name..

Example – particle object Idea – simulate physical system containing many particles Each particle needs data members – position and velocity And methods – initialise, move, and draw An array of these objects represents a bunch of particles

Look at the OOPParticle project Run it Look through the code Try changing the number of particles, the viscous drag and so on. Develop it – –All the particles are green –Add data members for their red green and blue colour components –Initialise them as random –Change the draw method to use the colour

Interfaces In VB, an interface is a single way of 'talking to' different classes Interface written just like a class, but with empty methods different classes can implement methods in different ways gives polymorphism Interface Method A Method B Method C Class 1 Method A (version 1) Method B Method C Class 2 Method A (version 2) Method B Method C Class 3 Method A (version 3) Method B Method C Calling code – Class1.methodA Class2.methodA Class3.methodA

Example interface - personnel Dealing with Employees All have name, rateOfPay properties All need a pay method Managerial employees are monthly paid Clerical employees are hourly paid

The Employee interface Private nameStr As String Private payRate As Double Public Property Let name(val As String) End Property Public Property Get name() As String End Property Public Property Get rateOfPay() As Double End Property Public Property Let rateOfPay(val As Double) End Property Public Sub pay() End Sub

The Manager Class Implements Employee Private nameStr As String Private payRate As Double Public Property Get Employee_name() As String Employee_name = nameStr End Property Public Property Let Employee_name(val As String) nameStr = val End Property Public Property Get Employee_rateOfPay() As Double Employee_rateOfPay = payRate End Property Public Property Let Employee_rateOfPay(val As Double) payRate = val End Property Public Sub Employee_pay() MsgBox (nameStr & " gets paid " & payRate) End Sub

Testing the Manager class Dim emp1 As Manager Set emp1 = New Manager emp1.Employee_name = "John (manager)" emp1.Employee_rateOfPay = 2010 emp1.Employee_pay

The Clerical Class (interface example) Implements Employee Private nameStr As String Private payRate As Double ' extra data member Private hours As Integer 'extra properties Public Property Let hoursWorked(val As Integer) hours = val End Property Public Property Get hoursWorked() As Integer hoursWorked = hours End Property..rest same as Manager class except.. Public Sub Employee_pay() MsgBox (nameStr & " gets paid " & payRate * hours) End Sub

Using the Clerical Class Dim emp2 As Clerical Set emp2 = New Clerical emp2.Employee_name = "Luke (clerical)" emp2.Employee_rateOfPay = 8.5 emp2.hoursWorked = 100 emp2.Employee_pay

Interfaces are not class hierarchies There is no inheritance in VB6 There are no derived classes in VB In the above, Clerical is not a sub-class of Employee Members must be re-coded