Object Oriented Programming (OOP) in Ruby

Object Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that organizes code around objects. An object represents an entity in the real world or system being modeled.

Classes: Link to heading

• Classes are templates that define the attributes (instance variables) and behavior (methods) of objects.
• It is declared using the class keyword.

Example: Link to heading

Long way Link to heading

class Person
    # Constructor
    def initialize(name, age)
        @name = name
        @age = age
    end

    # Getters
    def name
        @name
    end

    def age
        @age
    end

    # Setters
    def name=(name)
        @name = name
        self
    end

    def age=(age)
        @age = age
        self
    end

    # ... other methods of behavior
end

Short form Link to heading

class Person
    # class methods
    def self.suggested_names
        ["john", "ana", "maria"]
    end

    # Constructor
    def initialize(name, age)
        @name = name
        @age = age
    end

    # Instance methods(Getters y Setters)
    attr_accessor :name, :age

    # ... other methods of behavior
end

Even shorter shape Link to heading

class Person < Struct.new(:name, :age)
    # Struct declares the constructor, getters and setters

    # ... other methods of behavior
end

Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. The long form offers more control, while the short forms are more concise. The choice depends on the specific needs of the class.

Objects: Link to heading

• The instances of a class are the objects.
• They are created using the new method of the class.
• Each object has its own values ​​for the attributes defined in the class.

Example: Link to heading

person = Person.new("Juan", 25)

puts person.name # "Juan"
puts person.age # 25

Methods: Link to heading

• Methods are functions defined within a class that operate on the objects of that class.
• They can access and modify the attributes of the object.
• Class methods and instance methods can be defined.

Example: Link to heading

class Person

# ...

    def greet
        puts "hello, my name is #{@name}"
    end
end

person.greet #  "hello, my name is Juan"

Inheritance: Link to heading

• A class can inherit attributes and behavior from another class (parent class).
• The child class (subclass) can add its own functionality or modify the inherited one.

Abstraction: Link to heading

• OOP allows you to hide the implementation details of an object and expose only its interface (public methods).

OPO provides a way to organize code in a modular, reusable and maintainable way. By modeling the real world with objects, programs become easier to understand, modify, and extend.

Additional Tips: Link to heading

• You can use modules to group shared functionality between classes.
• You can use the MVC design pattern to separate business, presentation and control logic.
• You can use dependency injection to improve the testability and maintainability of the code.

Keep experimenting with OOP to create complex, well-designed applications!