Help me with this OOP example

[prince_mallow]

I have a hard time thinking about OOP... And examples using the words Foo and Bar drive me crazy because I don't understand a thing... Visual type person haha

SO I found an example that I'm sure would help clarify it for me...

Alright say you have one formula that is
"5 * [Variable]"
and the other formula is
"[Variable]"

And one wanted to execute
5 * [5 * [5 * [5 * [Variable]]]]

Then this is where OOP would come in, right?
If so, how would this look like in php?

[logic_earth]

$v = new Number( 7 );
$t = new Number( 5 );

$v->times( $t->power( 4 ) );
print $v; 

One way to look at it.

Or could just do this:

$v = 7;
print pow( 5, 4 ) * $v; 

[Jake Arkinstall]

This is absolutely nothing to do with OOP, whatsoever.

This is the concept of OOP, but in Java - it's the same concept in PHP:
http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/josman/oop/oop1.htm

And this is how to implement it with PHP:
http://www.thefullresource.com/viewi...ourse-:-:-PHP5

[wonshikee]

This is absolutely nothing to do with OOP, whatsoever.

This is the concept of OOP, but in Java - it's the same concept in PHP:
http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/josman/oop/oop1.htm

And this is how to implement it with PHP:
http://www.thefullresource.com/viewi...ourse-:-:-PHP5

I believe he is referring to how to handle that task in OOP methodology.

To OP, what your asking isn't really going to clarify your understanding of OOP I don't think. Your asking for an example on an abstract object. The reason pretty much every example uses a real object is that it is easier to understand OOP on real objects, like a person, or a car and things those objects might do, ie: walk, jump, engine_start

But to represent what your asking, you could use logic_earth's or like this

$number = new Number(3);

echo $number->get_value(); # 3

$number->multiply(5);

echo $number->get_value(); # 15

$number->power(4);

echo $number->get_value(); # 625 

So you treat the "number" as an object, and perform methods on it.

[kyberfabrikken]

You really wouldn't treat pure math any different in OOP than anywhere else. OOP is about managing complexity in large applications, by grouping code around concepts that are meaningful in the problem domain, rather than on the computers premises.

[prince_mallow]

Thanks for all the tips... This seems to be where I hit the wall
I guess I'm going to need to find a good book

because I'm getting the impression that functions and OOP are completly different things

[Jake Arkinstall]

There isn't really need for a book to get you started.

http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/josman/oop/oop1.htm

This tutorial is written with Java in mind but it really gives the reader a good idea of what OOP is (and no matter what language, OOP concepts are the same).

[kyberfabrikken]

because I'm getting the impression that functions and OOP are completly different things

That's correct. Objects are an addition to the simpler procedural programming model. You still have functions, but they are grouped into small clusters, called classes. These classes can be instantiated as objects.

One way to think about objects, is that they are like mini-programs. Instead of having one big program, you divide it into a number of smaller, autonomous objects, that can interact with each other. Because they are much smaller, they also tend to be less complicated. In this way, writing object oriented code, can reduce the complexity of a large application.

[UFTimmy]

That's correct. Objects are an addition to the simpler procedural programming model. You still have functions, but they are grouped into small clusters, called classes. These classes can be instantiated as objects.

Right, and functions that are grouped into classes are called "methods". And variables that are grouped into classes are called "properties".

So, in OOP a method is just a function that's specific to a class. It's a way to organize and group things together so they make more sense.

In addition, you don't need to worry as much about duplicate functions. Since each object has its own namespace for method names, there's less collision.

[binarysys]

I recommend this book. So far its been the best book I have found that is geared towards those that know php but have never delt with objects and patterns. It goes from 0-60 pretty quickly but I have had a few pretty good "ah ha!" moments with it.

I found this article very helpful. When I got to the bottom I realized it was written by the same guy.

I know enough now to realize how little I actually know. I'm learning that means I'm making progress