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Object Orientation
Object orientation (or, more correctly, object-oriented programming) is a problem-solving method that represents the
real world in a series of software objects.

Object-oriented programming is based on a progamming model in which data and functions are unified in objects. The
remaining language scope of ABAP mainly supports procedural programming, where the data is stored at other
places than the objects and where programs that are modularized by procedures access this data.

This document defines a few general terms that are widely used in object orientation and in ABAP Objects.

Objects
Objects represent abstract or concrete objects of the real world. An object is a section of program code that
has data (called attributes) and provides services called methods (sometimes also known as operations or
functions). Methods typically work with private data in the object (attributes, also known as the object state),
that are only visible within the object. This guarantees the internal consistency of the object, since the data is
only changed by the methods, not by the user. This ensures that the object is consistent in itself.

Classes
Classes are program code that describes objects. Technically, an object is an instance of a class. In theory,
you can create an infinite number of objects from a single class definition. Each instance of a class (object)
has its own values for its attributes.

Object References
In a program, you identify and address objects using a unique object reference. They allow you to access the
attributes and methods of an object.

In object-oriented programming, objects usually have the following characteristics:

Encapsulation
Objects restrict the external visibility of their resources (attributes and methods). Each object has an interface
that determines how other objects or applications can use it. The implementation of the object is encapsulated
(not visible outside the class).

Polymorphism
Methods with the same name can behave differently in different classes. In object-oriented programming, you
can use interfaces to address methods with the same name in different objects. The form of address always
remains the same, but the actual method implementation is class-specific, and can be different in each class.

Inheritance
You can derive a class from another class. A derived class (subclass) inherits the data and methods of its
superclass. You can add new methods to a subclass, or redefine existing methods. Redefined methods have
the same name and interface as the original method. Their classes are therefore polymorphous, too.

Benefits of Object Orientation

Object orientation has the following advantages:
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Complex software systems become easier to understand, since an object-oriented architecture resembles
reality more closely than other programming techniques.

Changes in object-oriented systems should be possible locally (at class level), without further changes being
necessary in other parts of the system. This reduces the amount of maintenance required.

Polymorphism and inheritance enable many individual components to be reused.

Object-oriented systems require fewer revisions and less maintenance, because the majority of problems can
be discovered and corrected in the design and development phases.

Achieving these goals requires:

Object-oriented programming languages

Object-oriented programming techniques do not necessarily require object-oriented programming languages.

However, they do depend on the implementation of object-oriented constructions in the system kernel.

Object-oriented tools

Object-oriented tools help you create object-oriented programs in object-oriented languages. They allow you to
store and visualize your program objects and the relationship between them.

Object-oriented modeling

Object-oriented modeling of a software system is the most important, most time consuming, and most difficult
task required to achieve the above goals. Object-oriented design encompasses more than just object-oriented
programming, and offers logical advantages that are independent of the eventual implementation.

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