Question | Answer |
abstraction | a technique used to reduce complexity in programming where similar tasks are combined into a single method. We then think about the overall task as opposed to all of the small actions to make up that task. |
argument | the actual value that is passed to a method through a parameter. |
calling a method | using a defined behaviour that an object contains when a program is executed. |
class | defines a particular kind of object. It is a template or a blueprint for all objects of that kind. |
object-level method | a new method created in an object that gives the object new behaviours. This new method extends the original class into something better than before. |
inheritance | a consequence of creating and saving object-level methods as a new class. Classes that have been extended get all of the original methods as well as all of the new methods that were created. |
instance | a word that describes the product when a single object has been created from a class |
instantiating | the act of creating a single object |
method | defines one or more of the behaviours to be exhibited by an object. Methods are a coordinated sequence of instructions that will be carried out by the object when the method is ‘called’. |
object | is one specific instance of a particular class. |
parameter | used to pass information to a method. It acts as a placeholder for the data and is then substituted into the small actions that make up that method. |
primitive method | a method that is defined as part of the original class definition. |
user-defined method | a method that we define at either the world level or the object level. This type of method is built from primitive methods. |
stepwise refinement | a design or storyboard technique that breaks the overall task into smaller tasks, making the job of solving a big problem more manageable. |
world-level method | a method created at the ‘world’ level, allowing all objects in the world the ability to share this method in a common fashion. |
invoking a method | another common term used instead of 'calling a method'. Executes the methods that have been included in the program. |