Oop obj c

Object-Oriented
Programming with
Objective-C

Contents

Introduction 5
Who Should Read This Document 5
Organization of This Document 6
See Also 6

Why Objective-C? 7
Object-Oriented Programming 8
Data and Operations 8
Interface and Implementation 9

The Object Model 12
The Messaging Metaphor 13
Classes 15
Modularity 16
Reusability 16
Mechanisms of Abstraction 18
Encapsulation 18
Polymorphism 19
Inheritance 20
Class Hierarchies 21
Subclass Definitions 21
Uses of Inheritance 22
Dynamism 23
Dynamic Typing 24
Dynamic Binding 25
Dynamic Loading 27

Structuring Programs 29
Outlet Connections 29
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Connections 30
Activating the Object Network 31
Aggregation and Decomposition 31
Models and Frameworks 32

2010-11-15 | © 2010 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved.

2

Contents

Structuring the Programming Task 34
Collaboration 34
Organizing Object-Oriented Projects 35
Designing on a Large Scale 35
Separating the Interface from the Implementation 35
Dividing the Work into Modules 35
Keeping the Interface Simple 36
Making Decisions Dynamically 36
Inheriting Generic Code 36
Reusing Tested Code 36

Document Revision History 38


3

Figures

Object-Oriented Programming 8
Figure 2-1

Interface and implementation 9

The Object Model 12
Figure 3-1
Figure 3-2
Figure 3-3

An object 12
Objects in a network 13
An inheritance hierarchy 21

Structuring Programs 29
Figure 4-1

Outlets 30


4

Introduction

An object-oriented approach to application development makes programs more intuitive to design, faster to
develop, more amenable to modification, and easier to understand. Most object-oriented development
environments consist of at least three parts:
●

A library of objects

●

A set of development tools

●

An object-oriented programming language and support library

The Objective-C language is a programming language designed to enable sophisticated object-oriented
programming. Objective-C is defined as a small but powerful set of extensions to the standard ANSI C language.
Its additions to C are mostly based on Smalltalk, one of the first object-oriented programming languages.
Objective-C is designed to give C full object-oriented programming capabilities and to do so in a simple and
straightforward way.
Important This document does not describe the Objective-C language itself. To learn about the language,
see The Objective-C Programming Language .
Every object-oriented programming language and environment has a different perspective on what
object-oriented means, how objects behave, and how programs might be structured. This document offers
the Objective-C perspective.

Who Should Read This Document
For those who have never used object-oriented programming to create applications, this document is designed
to help you become familiar with object-oriented development. It spells out some of the implications of
object-oriented design and gives you a flavor of what writing an object-oriented program is really like.
If you have developed applications using an object-oriented environment, this document will help you
understand the fundamental concepts that are essential to understanding how to use Objective-C effectively
and how to structure a program that uses Objective-C.


5

Introduction
Organization of This Document

Because this isn’t a document about C, it assumes some prior acquaintance with that language. However, it
doesn’t have to be an extensive acquaintance. Object-oriented programming in Objective-C is sufficiently
different from procedural programming in ANSI C that you won’t be hampered if you’re not an experienced
C programmer.

Organization of This Document
This document is divided into several chapters:
●

●

●

●

●

“Why Objective-C?” (page 7) explains why Objective-C was chosen as the development language for the
Cocoa frameworks.
“Object-Oriented Programming” (page 8) discusses the rationale for object-oriented programming
languages and introduces much of the terminology. It develops the ideas behind object-oriented
programming techniques. Even if you’re already familiar with object-oriented programming, you are
encouraged to read this chapter to gain a sense of the Objective-C perspective on object orientation and
its use of terminology.
“The Object Model” (page 12) describes how you can think of a program in terms of units that combine
state and behavior—objects. It then explains how you characterize these objects as belonging to a particular
class, how one class can inherit state and behavior from another class, and how objects can send messages
to other objects.
“Structuring Programs” (page 29) explains how you think about designing an object-oriented program
by creating connections between objects. It introduces the techniques of aggregation and decomposition,
which divide responsibility between different sorts of object, and the role of frameworks in defining libraries
of objects designed to work together.
“Structuring the Programming Task” (page 34) discusses issues of project management related to
collaboration among programmers and to code implementation.

See Also
The Objective-C Programming Language describes the Objective-C programming language.
Objective-C Runtime Programming Guide describes how you can interact with the Objective-C runtime.
Objective-C Runtime Reference describes the data structures and functions of the Objective-C runtime support
library. Your programs can use these interfaces to interact with the Objective-C runtime system. For example,
you can add classes or methods, or obtain a list of all class definitions for loaded classes.


6

Why Objective-C?

The Objective-C language was chosen for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it’s an object-oriented
language. The kind of functionality that’s packaged in the Cocoa frameworks can only be delivered through
object-oriented techniques. Second, because Objective-C is an extension of standard ANSI C, existing C programs
can be adapted to use the software frameworks without losing any of the work that went into their original
development. Because Objective-C incorporates C, you get all the benefits of C when working within Objective-C.
You can choose when to do something in an object-oriented way (define a new class, for example) and when
to stick to procedural programming techniques (define a structure and some functions instead of a class).
Moreover, Objective-C is a fundamentally simple language. Its syntax is small, unambiguous, and easy to learn.
Object-oriented programming, with its self-conscious terminology and emphasis on abstract design, often
presents a steep learning curve to new recruits. A well-organized language like Objective-C can make becoming
a proficient object-oriented programmer that much less difficult.
Compared to other object-oriented languages based on C, Objective-C is very dynamic. The compiler preserves
a great deal of information about the objects themselves for use at runtime. Decisions that otherwise might
be made at compile time can be postponed until the program is running. Dynamism gives Objective-C programs
unusual flexibility and power. For example, it yields two big benefits that are hard to get with other nominally
object-oriented languages:
●

●

Objective-C supports an open style of dynamic binding, a style that can accommodate a simple architecture
for interactive user interfaces. Messages are not necessarily constrained by either the class of the receiver
or even the method name, so a software framework can allow for user choices at runtime and permit
developers freedom of expression in their design. (Terminology such as dynamic binding , message , class ,
and receiver are explained in due course in this document.)
Dynamism enables the construction of sophisticated development tools. An interface to the runtime
system provides access to information about running applications, so it’s possible to develop tools that
monitor, intervene, and reveal the underlying structure and activity of Objective-C applications.

Historical note As a language, Objective-C has a long history. It was created at the Stepstone
company in the early 1980s by Brad Cox and Tom Love. It was licensed by NeXT Computer Inc. in
the late 1980s to develop the NeXTStep frameworks that preceded Cocoa. NeXT extended the
language in several ways, for example, with the addition of protocols.


7

Object-Oriented Programming

As humans, we’re constantly faced with myriad facts and impressions that we must make sense of. To do so,
we must abstract underlying structure away from surface details and discover the fundamental relations at
work. Abstractions reveal causes and effects, expose patterns and frameworks, and separate what’s important
from what’s not. Object orientation provides an abstraction of the data on which you operate; moreover, it
provides a concrete grouping between the data and the operations you can perform with the data—in effect
giving the data behavior.

Data and Operations
Programming languages have traditionally divided the world into two parts—data and operations on data.
Data is static and immutable, except as the operations may change it. The procedures and functions that
operate on data have no lasting state of their own; they’re useful only in their ability to affect data.
This division is, of course, grounded in the way computers work, so it’s not one that you can easily ignore or
push aside. Like the equally pervasive distinctions between matter and energy and between nouns and verbs,
it forms the background against which we work. At some point, all programmers—even object-oriented
programmers—must lay out the data structures that their programs will use and define the functions that will
act on the data.
With a procedural programming language like C, that’s about all there is to it. The language may offer various
kinds of support for organizing data and functions, but it won’t divide the world any differently. Functions and
data structures are the basic elements of design.
Object-oriented programming doesn’t so much dispute this view of the world as restructure it at a higher level.
It groups operations and data into modular units called objects and lets you combine objects into structured
networks to form a complete program. In an object-oriented programming language, objects and object
interactions are the basic elements of design.
Every object has both state (data) and behavior (operations on data). In that, they’re not much different from
ordinary physical objects. It’s easy to see how a mechanical device, such as a pocket watch or a piano, embodies
both state and behavior. But almost anything that’s designed to do a job does, too. Even simple things with
no moving parts such as an ordinary bottle combine state (how full the bottle is, whether or not it’s open, how
warm its contents are) with behavior (the ability to dispense its contents at various flow rates, to be opened
or closed, to withstand high or low temperatures).


8

Interface and Implementation

It’s this resemblance to real things that gives objects much of their power and appeal. They can not only model
components of real systems, but equally as well fulfill assigned roles as components in software systems.

To invent programs, you need to be able to capture abstractions and express them in the program design. It’s
the job of a programming language to help you do this. The language should facilitate the process of invention
and design by letting you encode abstractions that reveal the way things work. It should let you make your
ideas concrete in the code you write. Surface details shouldn’t obscure the architecture of your program.
All programming languages provide devices that help express abstractions. In essence, these devices are ways
of grouping implementation details, hiding them, and giving them, at least to some extent, a common
interface—much as a mechanical object separates its interface from its implementation, as illustrated in Figure
2-1.
Figure 2-1

Interface and implementation

interface

implementation

11
10
9
8
7

6

Looking at such a unit from the inside, as the implementer, you’d be concerned with what it’s composed of
and how it works. Looking at it from the outside, as the user, you’re concerned only with what it is and what
it does. You can look past the details and think solely in terms of the role that the unit plays at a higher level.
The principal units of abstraction in the C language are structures and functions. Both, in different ways, hide
elements of the implementation:
●

On the data side of the world, C structures group data elements into larger units that can then be handled
as single entities. While some code must delve inside the structure and manipulate the fields separately,
much of the program can regard it as a single thing—not as a collection of elements, but as what those
elements taken together represent. One structure can include others, so a complex arrangement of
information can be built from simpler layers.


9


In modern C, the fields of a structure live in their own namespace—that is, their names won’t conflict with
identically named data elements outside the structure. Partitioning the program namespace is essential
for keeping implementation details out of the interface. Imagine, for example, the enormous task of
assigning a different name to every piece of data in a large program and of making sure new names don’t
conflict with old ones.
●

On the procedural side of the world, functions encapsulate behaviors that can be used repeatedly without
being reimplemented. Data elements local to a function, like the fields within a structure, are protected
within their own namespace. Because functions can reference (call) other functions, complex behaviors
can be built from smaller pieces.
Functions are reusable. Once defined, they can be called any number of times without again considering
the implementation. The most generally useful functions can be collected in libraries and reused in many
different applications. All the user needs is the function interface, not the source code.
However, unlike data elements, functions aren’t partitioned into separate namespaces. Each function must
have a unique name. Although the function may be reusable, its name is not.

C structures and functions are able to express significant abstractions, but they maintain the distinction between
data and operations on data. In a procedural programming language, the highest units of abstraction still live
on one side or the other of the data-versus-operations divide. The programs you design must always reflect,
at the highest level, the way the computer works.
Object-oriented programming languages don’t lose any of the virtues of structures and functions—they go a
step further and add a unit capable of abstraction at a higher level, a unit that hides the interaction between
a function and its data.
Suppose, for example, that you have a group of functions that act on a particular data structure. You want to
make those functions easier to use by, as far as possible, taking the structure out of the interface. So you supply
a few additional functions to manage the data. All the work of manipulating the data structure—allocating
memory for it, initializing it, getting information from it, modifying values within it, keeping it up to date, and
freeing its memory—is done through the functions. All the user does is call the functions and pass the structure
to them.
With these changes, the structure has become an opaque token that other programmers never need to look
inside. They can concentrate on what the functions do, not on how the data is organized. You’ve taken the
first step toward creating an object.
The next step is to give this idea support in the programming language and completely hide the data structure
so that it doesn’t even have to be passed between the functions. The data becomes an internal implementation
detail; all that’s exported to users is a functional interface. Because objects completely encapsulate their data
(hide it), users can think of them solely in terms of their behavior.


10


With this step, the interface to the functions has become much simpler. Callers don’t need to know how they’re
implemented (what data they use). It’s fair now to call this an object .
The hidden data structure unites all the functions that share access to it. So an object is more than a collection
of random functions; it’s a bundle of related behaviors that are supported by shared data. To use a function
that belongs to an object, you first create the object (thus giving it its internal data structure), and then tell
the object which function it should perform. You begin to think in terms of what the object does, rather than
in terms of the individual functions.
This progression from thinking about functions and data structures to thinking about object behaviors is the
essence of learning object-oriented programming. It may seem unfamiliar at first, but as you gain experience
with object-oriented programming, you find it’s a more natural way to think about things. Everyday programming
terminology is replete with analogies to real-world objects of various kinds—lists, containers, tables, controllers,
even managers. Implementing such things as programming objects merely extends the analogy in a natural
way.
A programming language can be judged by the kinds of abstractions that it enables you to encode. You
shouldn’t be distracted by extraneous matters or forced to express yourself using a vocabulary that doesn’t
match the reality you’re trying to capture.
If, for example, you must always tend to the business of keeping the right data matched with the right procedure,
you’re forced at all times to be aware of the entire program at a low level of implementation. While you might
still invent programs at a high level of abstraction, the path from imagination to implementation can become
quite tenuous—and more and more difficult as programs become bigger and more complicated.
By providing another, higher level of abstraction, object-oriented programming languages give you a larger
vocabulary and a richer model to program in.


11

The Object Model

The insight of object-oriented programming is to combine state and behavior—data and operations on data—in
a high-level unit, an object, and to give it language support. An object is a group of related functions and a
data structure that serves those functions. The functions are known as the object’s methods, and the fields of
its data structure are its instance variables. The methods wrap around the instance variables and hide them
from the rest of the program, as Figure 3-1 illustrates.
Figure 3-1

An object

thod

data

me

m et h o d

m et h o d

m et h o d

If you’ve ever tackled any kind of difficult programming problem, it’s likely that your design has included groups
of functions that work on a particular kind of data—implicit “objects” without the language support.
Object-oriented programming makes these function groups explicit and permits you to think in terms of the
group, rather than its components. The only way to an object’s data, the only interface, is through its methods.
By combining both state and behavior in a single unit, an object becomes more than either alone; the whole
really is greater than the sum of its parts. An object is a kind of self-sufficient “subprogram” with jurisdiction
over a specific functional area. It can play a full-fledged modular role within a larger program design.
Terminology Object-oriented terminology varies from language to language. For example, in C++,
methods are called member functions and instance variables are known as data members . This
document uses the terminology of Objective-C, which has its basis in Smalltalk.

For example, if you were to write a program that modeled home water usage, you might invent objects to
represent the various components of the water-delivery system. One might be a Faucet object that would
have methods to start and stop the flow of water, set the rate of flow, return the amount of water consumed
in a given period, and so on. To do this work, a Faucet object would need instance variables to keep track of
whether the tap is open or shut, how much water is being used, and where the water is coming from.


12

The Object Model
The Messaging Metaphor

Clearly, a programmatic Faucet object can be smarter than a real one (it’s analogous to a mechanical faucet
with lots of gauges and instruments attached). But even a real faucet, like any system component, exhibits
both state and behavior. To effectively model a system, you need programming units, like objects, that also
combine state and behavior.
A program consists of a network of interconnected objects that call upon each other to solve a part of the
puzzle (as illustrated in Figure 3-2 (page 13)). Each object has a specific role to play in the overall design of
the program and is able to communicate with other objects. Objects communicate through messages, which
are requests to perform methods.
Figure 3-2

Objects in a network

data

data

data

message

The objects in the network won’t all be the same. For example, in addition to Faucet objects, the program
that models water usage might also have Pipe objects that can deliver water to the Faucet and Valve objects
to regulate the flow among pipes. There could be a Building object to coordinate a set of pipes, valves, and
faucets, some Appliance objects—corresponding to dishwashers, toilets, and washing machines—that can
turn valves on and off, and maybe some User objects to work the appliances and faucets. When a Building
object is asked how much water is being used, it might call upon each Faucet and Valve object to report its
current state. When a user starts up an appliance, the appliance will need to turn on a valve to get the water
it requires.

Every programming paradigm comes with its own terminology and metaphors. The jargon associated with
object-oriented programming invites you to think about what goes on in a program from a particular perspective.


13

The Object Model

There’s a tendency, for example, to think of objects as actors and to endow them with human-like intentions
and abilities. It’s tempting sometimes to talk about an object deciding what to do about a situation, asking
other objects for information, introspecting about itself to get requested information, delegating responsibility
to another object, or managing a process.
Rather than think in terms of functions or methods doing the work, as you would in a procedural programming
language, this metaphor asks you to think of objects as performing their methods. Objects are not passive
containers for state and behavior, but are said to be the agents of the program’s activity.
This metaphor is actually very useful. An object is like an actor in a couple of respects: It has a particular role
to play within the overall design of the program, and within that role it can act fairly independently of the
other parts of the program. It interacts with other objects as they play their own roles, but it is self-contained
and to a certain extent can act on its own. Like an actor onstage, it can’t stray from the script, but the role it
plays can be multifaceted and complex.
The idea of objects as actors fits nicely with the principal metaphor of object-oriented programming—the idea
that objects communicate through messages. Instead of calling a method as you would a function, you send
a message to an object requesting it to perform one of its methods.
Although it can take some getting used to, this metaphor leads to a useful way of looking at methods and
objects. It abstracts methods away from the particular data they act on and concentrates on behavior instead.
For example, in an object-oriented programming interface, a start method might initiate an operation, an
archive method might archive information, and a draw method might produce an image. Exactly which
operation is initiated, which information is archived, and which image is drawn isn’t revealed by the method
name. Different objects might perform these methods in different ways.
Thus, methods are a vocabulary of abstract behaviors. To invoke one of those behaviors, you have to make it
concrete by associating the method with an object. This is done by naming the object as the receiver of a
message. The object you choose as receiver determines the exact operation that is initiated, the data that is
archived, or the image that is drawn.
Because methods belong to objects, they can be invoked only through a particular receiver (the owner of the
method and of the data structure the method will act on). Different receivers can have different implementations
of the same method. Consequently, different receivers can do different things in response to the same message.
The result of a message can’t be calculated from the message or method name alone; it also depends on the
object that receives the message.
By separating the message (the requested behavior) from the receiver (the owner of a method that can respond
to the request), the messaging metaphor perfectly captures the idea that behaviors can be abstracted away
from their particular implementations.


14

The Object Model
Classes

Classes
A program can have more than one object of the same kind. The program that models water usage, for example,
might have several faucets and pipes and perhaps a handful of appliances and users. Objects of the same kind
are said to be members of the same class. All members of a class are able to perform the same methods and
have matching sets of instance variables. They also share a common definition; each kind of object is defined
just once.
In this, objects are similar to C structures. Declaring a structure defines a type. For example, the declaration
struct key {
char *word;
int count;
};

defines the struct key type. Once defined, the structure name can be used to produce any number of
instances of the type:
struct key

a, b, c, d;

struct key *p = malloc(sizeof(struct key) * MAXITEMS);

The declaration is a template for a kind of structure, but it doesn’t create a structure that the program can use.
It takes another step to allocate memory for an actual structure of that type, a step that can be repeated any
number of times.
Similarly, defining an object creates a template for a kind of object. It defines a class of objects. The template
can be used to produce any number of similar objects—instances of the class. For example, there would be
a single definition of the Faucet class. Using this definition, a program could allocate as many Faucet instances
as it needed.
A class definition is like a structure definition in that it lays out an arrangement of data elements (instance
variables) that become part of every instance. Each instance has memory allocated for its own set of instance
variables, which store values particular to the instance.
However, a class definition differs from a structure declaration in that it also defines methods that specify the
behavior of class members. Every instance is characterized by its access to the methods defined for the class.
Two objects with equivalent data structures but different methods would not belong to the same class.


15

The Object Model
Classes

Modularity
To a C programmer, a module is nothing more than a file containing source code. Breaking a large (or even
not-so-large) program into different files is a convenient way of splitting it into manageable pieces. Each piece
can be worked on independently and compiled alone, and then integrated with other pieces when the program
is linked.
Using the static storage class designator to limit the scope of names to just the files where they’re declared
enhances the independence of source modules. This kind of module is a unit defined by the file system. It’s a
container for source code, not a logical unit of the language. What goes into the container is up to each
programmer. You can use them to group logically related parts of the code, but you don’t have to. Files are
like the drawers of a dresser; you can put your socks in one drawer, underwear in another, and so on, or you
can use another organizing scheme or simply choose to mix everything up.
Access to methods It’s convenient to think of methods as being part of an object, just as instance
variables are. As in Figure 3-1 (page 12), methods can be diagrammed as surrounding the object’s
instance variables. But methods aren’t grouped with instance variables in memory. Memory is
allocated for the instance variables of each new object, but there’s no need to allocate memory for
methods. All an instance needs is access to its methods, and all instances of the same class share
access to the same set of methods. There’s only one copy of the methods in memory, no matter how
many instances of the class are created.

Object-oriented programming languages support the use of file containers for source code, but they also add
a logical module to the language—class definitions. As you’d expect, it’s often the case that each class is defined
in its own source file—logical modules are matched to container modules.
In Objective-C, for example, it would be possible to define the part of the Valve class that interacts with Pipe
objects in the same file that defines the Pipe class, thus creating a container module for Pipe-related code
and splitting the Valve class into more than one file. The Valve class definition would still act as a modular
unit within the construction of the program—it would still be a logical module—no matter how many files
the source code was located in.
The mechanisms that make class definitions logical units of the language are discussed in some detail under
“Mechanisms of Abstraction” (page 18).

Reusability
A principal goal of object-oriented programming is to make the code you write as reusable as possible—to
have it serve many different situations and applications—so that you can avoid reimplementing, even if only
slightly differently, something that’s already been done.


16

The Object Model
Classes

Reusability is influenced by factors such as these:
●

How reliable and bug-free the code is

●

How clear the documentation is

●

How simple and straightforward the programming interface is

●

How efficiently the code performs its tasks

●

How full the feature set is

These factors don’t apply just to the object model. They can be used to judge the reusability of any
code—standard C functions as well as class definitions. Efficient and well-documented functions, for example,
would be more reusable than undocumented and unreliable ones.
Nevertheless, a general comparison would show that class definitions lend themselves to reusable code in
ways that functions do not. There are various things you can do to make functions more reusable— for example,
passing data as parameters rather than assuming specifically named global variables. Even so, it turns out that
only a small subset of functions can be generalized beyond the applications they were originally designed for.
Their reusability is inherently limited in at least three ways:
●

Function names are global; each function must have a unique name (except for those declared static).
This naming requirement makes it difficult to rely heavily on library code when building a complex system.
The programming interface would be hard to learn and so extensive that it couldn’t easily capture significant
generalizations.
Classes, on the other hand, can share programming interfaces. When the same naming conventions are
used over and over, a great deal of functionality can be packaged with a relatively small and
easy-to-understand interface.

●

Functions are selected from a library one at a time. It’s up to programmers to pick and choose the individual
functions they need.
In contrast, objects come as packages of functionality, not as individual methods and instance variables.
They provide integrated services, so users of an object-oriented library won’t get bogged down piecing
together their own solutions to a problem.

●

Functions are typically tied to particular kinds of data structures devised for a specific program. The
interaction between data and function is an unavoidable part of the interface. A function is useful only to
those who agree to use the same kind of data structures it accepts as parameters.
Because it hides its data, an object doesn’t have this problem. This is one of the principal reasons that
classes can be reused more easily than functions.


17

The Object Model
Mechanisms of Abstraction

An object’s data is protected and won’t be touched by any other part of the program. Methods can therefore
trust its integrity. They can be sure that external access hasn’t put data into an illogical or untenable state. As
a result, an object data structure is more reliable than one passed to a function, and methods can depend on
it more. Reusable methods are consequently easier to write.
Moreover, because an object’s data is hidden, a class can be reimplemented to use a different data structure
without affecting its interface. All programs that use the class can pick up the new version without changing
any source code; no reprogramming is required.

To this point, objects have been introduced as units that embody higher-level abstractions and as coherent
role-players within an application. However, they couldn’t be used this way without the support of various
language mechanisms. Two of the most important mechanisms are encapsulation and polymorphism.
Encapsulation keeps the implementation of an object out of its interface, and polymorphism results from
giving each class its own namespace. The following sections discuss each of these mechanisms in turn.

Encapsulation
To design effectively at any level of abstraction, you need to be able to leave details of implementation behind
and think in terms of units that group those details under a common interface. For a programming unit to be
truly effective, the barrier between interface and implementation must be absolute. The interface must
encapsulate the implementation—that is, hide it from other parts of the program. Encapsulation protects an
implementation from unintended actions and from inadvertent access.
In C, a function is clearly encapsulated; its implementation is inaccessible to other parts of the program and
protected from whatever actions might be taken outside the body of the function. In Objective-C, method
implementations are similarly encapsulated, but more importantly so are an object’s instance variables. They’re
hidden inside the object and invisible outside it. The encapsulation of instance variables is sometimes also
called information hiding .
It might seem, at first, that hiding the information in instance variables might constrain your freedom as a
programmer. Actually, it gives you more room to act and frees you from constraints that might otherwise be
imposed. If any part of an object’s implementation could leak out and become accessible or a concern to other
parts of the program, it would tie the hands both of the object’s implementer and of those who would use
the object. Neither could make modifications without first checking with the other.


18

The Object Model

Suppose, for example, that you’re interested in the Faucet object being developed for the program that
models water use and you want to incorporate it in another program you’re writing. Once the interface to the
object is decided, you don’t have to be concerned when others work on it, fix bugs, and find better ways to
implement it. You get the benefit of these improvements, but none of them affects what you do in your
program. Because you depend solely on the interface, nothing they do can break your code. Your program is
insulated from the object’s implementation.
Moreover, although those implementing the Faucet object might be interested in how you use the class and
might try to make sure it meets your needs, they don’t have to be concerned with the way you write your
code. Nothing you do can touch the implementation of the object or limit their freedom to make implementation
changes in future releases. The implementation is insulated from anything that you or other users of the object
might do.

Polymorphism
The ability of different objects to respond, each in its own way, to identical messages is called polymorphism .
Polymorphism results from the fact that every class lives in its own namespace. The names assigned within a
class definition don’t conflict with names assigned anywhere outside it. This is true both of the instance variables
in an object’s data structure and of the object’s methods:
●

●

Just as the fields of a C structure are in a protected namespace, so are an object’s instance variables.
Method names are also protected. Unlike the names of C functions, method names aren’t global symbols.
The name of a method in one class can’t conflict with method names in other classes; two very different
classes can implement identically named methods.

Method names are part of an object’s interface. When a message is sent requesting that an object to something,
the message names the method the object should perform. Because different objects can have methods with
the same name, the meaning of a message must be understood relative to the particular object that receives
the message. The same message sent to two different objects can invoke two distinct methods.
The main benefit of polymorphism is that it simplifies the programming interface. It permits conventions to
be established that can be reused in class after class. Instead of inventing a new name for each new function
you add to a program, the same names can be reused. The programming interface can be described as a set
of abstract behaviors, quite apart from the classes that implement them.


19

The Object Model
Inheritance

Overloading The terms polymorphism and parameter overloading refer basically to the same
thing, but from slightly different points of view. Polymorphism takes a pluralistic point of view and
notes that several classes can each have a method with the same name. Parameter overloading takes
the point of the view of the method name and notes that it can have different effects depending
on the parameters passed to it. Operator overloading is similar. It refers to the ability to turn operators
of the language (such as == and + in C) into methods that can be assigned particular meanings for
particular kinds of objects. Objective-C implements polymorphism of method names, but not
parameter or operator overloading.

For example, suppose you want to report the amount of water used by an Appliance object over a given
period of time. Instead of defining an amountConsumed method for the Appliance class, an
amountDispensedAtFaucet method for a Faucet class, and a cumulativeUsage method for a Building
class, you can simply define a waterUsed method for each class. This consolidation reduces the number of
methods used for what is conceptually the same operation.
Polymorphism also permits code to be isolated in the methods of different objects rather than be gathered in
a single function that enumerates all the possible cases. This makes the code you write more extensible and
reusable. When a new case comes along, you don’t have to reimplement existing code; you need only to add
a new class with a new method, leaving the code that’s already written alone.
For example, suppose you have code that sends a draw message to an object. Depending on the receiver, the
message might produce one of two possible images. When you want to add a third case, you don’t have to
change the message or alter existing code; you merely allow another object to be assigned as the message
receiver.

Inheritance
The easiest way to explain something new is to start with something understood. If you want to describe what
a schooner is, it helps if your listeners already know what a sailboat is. If you want to explain how a harpsichord
works, it’s best if you can assume your audience has already looked inside a piano, or has seen a guitar played,
or at least is familiar with the idea of a musical instrument.
The same is true if you want to define a new kind of object; the description is simpler if it can start from the
definition of an existing object.
With this in mind, object-oriented programming languages permit you to base a new class definition on a class
already defined. The base class is called a superclass; the new class is its subclass. The subclass definition
specifies only how it differs from the superclass; everything else is taken to be the same.


20

The Object Model
Inheritance

Nothing is copied from superclass to subclass. Instead, the two classes are connected so that the subclass
inherits all the methods and instance variables of its superclass, much as you want your listener’s understanding
of schooner to inherit what they already know about sailboats. If the subclass definition were empty (if it didn’t
define any instance variables or methods of its own), the two classes would be identical (except for their names)
and would share the same definition. It would be like explaining what a fiddle is by saying that it’s exactly the
same as a violin. However, the reason for declaring a subclass isn’t to generate synonyms; it to create something
at least a little different from its superclass. For example, you might extend the behavior of the fiddle to allow
it to play bluegrass in addition to classical music.

Class Hierarchies
Any class can be used as a superclass for a new class definition. A class can simultaneously be a subclass of
another class, and a superclass for its own subclasses. Any number of classes can thus be linked in a hierarchy
of inheritance, such as the one depicted in Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3

An inheritance hierarchy
root

A

B

C

D

E

F

Every inheritance hierarchy begins with a root class that has no superclass. From the root class, the hierarchy
branches downward. Each class inherits from its superclass and, through its superclass, from all the classes
above it in the hierarchy. Every class inherits from the root class.
Each class is the accumulation of all the class definitions in its inheritance chain. In the example above, class
D inherits both from C—its superclass—and the root class. Members of the D class have methods and instance
variables defined in all three classes—D, C, and root.
Typically, every class has just one superclass and can have an unlimited number of subclasses. However, in
some object-oriented programming languages (though not in Objective-C), a class can have more than one
superclass; it can inherit through multiple sources. Instead of having a single hierarchy that branches downward
as shown in Figure 3-3, multiple inheritance lets some branches of the hierarchy (or of different hierarchies)
merge.

Subclass Definitions
A subclass can make three kinds of changes to the definition it inherits through its superclass:


21

The Object Model
Inheritance

●

●

●

It can expand the class definition it inherits by adding new methods and instance variables. This is the
most common reason for defining a subclass. Subclasses always add new methods and add new instance
variables if the methods require it.
It can modify the behavior it inherits by replacing an existing method with a new version. This is done by
simply implementing a new method with the same name as one that’s inherited. The new version overrides
the inherited version. (The inherited method doesn’t disappear; it’s still valid for the class that defined it
and other classes that inherit it.)
It can refine or extend the behavior it inherits by replacing an existing method with a new version, but it
still retains the old version by incorporating it in the new method. A subclass sends a message to perform
the old version in the body of the new method. Each class in an inheritance chain can contribute part of
a method’s behavior. In Figure 3-3 (page 21), for example, class D might override a method defined in
class C and incorporate C’s version, while C’s version incorporates a version defined in the root class.

Subclasses thus tend to fill out a superclass definition, making it more specific and specialized. They add, and
sometimes replace, code rather than subtract it. Note that methods generally can’t be disinherited and instance
variables can’t be removed or overridden.

Uses of Inheritance
The classic examples of an inheritance hierarchy are borrowed from animal and plant taxonomies. For example,
there could be a class corresponding to the Pinaceae (pine) family of trees. Its subclasses could be Fir, Spruce,
Pine, Hemlock, Tamarack, DouglasFir, and TrueCedar, corresponding to the various genera that make
up the family. The Pine class might have SoftPine and HardPine subclasses, with WhitePine, SugarPine,
and BristleconePine as subclasses of SoftPine, and PonderosaPine, JackPine, MontereyPine, and
RedPine as subclasses of HardPine.
There’s rarely a reason to program a taxonomy like this, but the analogy is a good one. Subclasses tend to
specialize a superclass or adapt it to a special purpose, much as a species specializes a genus.
Here are some typical uses of inheritance:
●

Reusing code. If two or more classes have some things in common but also differ in some ways, the
common elements can be put in a single class definition that the other classes inherit. The common code
is shared and need only be implemented once.
For example, Faucet, Valve, and Pipe objects, defined for the program that models water use, all need
a connection to a water source and should be able to record the rate of flow. These commonalities can
be encoded once, in a class that the Faucet, Valve, and Pipe classes inherit from. A Faucet object can
be said to be a kind of Valve object, so perhaps the Faucet class would inherit most of what it is from
Valve, and add little of its own.


22

The Object Model
Dynamism

●

Setting up a protocol. A class can declare a number of methods that its subclasses are expected to
implement. The class might have empty versions of the methods, or it might implement partial versions
that are to be incorporated into the subclass methods. In either case, its declarations establish a protocol
that all its subclasses must follow.
When different classes implement similarly named methods, a program is better able to make use of
polymorphism in its design. Setting up a protocol that subclasses must implement helps enforce these
conventions.

●

Delivering generic functionality. One implementer can define a class that contains a lot of basic, general
code to solve a problem but that doesn’t fill in all the details. Other implementers can then create subclasses
to adapt the generic class to their specific needs. For example, the Appliance class in the program that
models water use might define a generic water-using device that subclasses would turn into specific kinds
of appliances.
Inheritance is thus both a way to make someone else’s programming task easier and a way to separate
levels of implementation.

●

●

Making slight modifications. When inheritance is used to deliver generic functionality, set up a protocol,
or reuse code, a class is devised that other classes are expected to inherit from. But you can also use
inheritance to modify classes that aren’t intended as superclasses. Suppose, for example, that there’s an
object that would work well in your program, but you’d like to change one or two things that it does. You
can make the changes in a subclass.
Previewing possibilities. Subclasses can also be used to factor out alternatives for testing purposes. For
example, if a class is to be encoded with a particular user interface, alternative interfaces can be factored
into subclasses during the design phase of the project. Each alternative can then be demonstrated to
potential users to see which they prefer. When the choice is made, the selected subclass can be reintegrated
into its superclass.

Dynamism
At one time in programming history, the question of how much memory a program might use was typically
settled when the source code was compiled and linked. All the memory the program would ever need was set
aside for it as it was launched. This memory was fixed; it could neither grow nor shrink.
In hindsight, it’s evident what a serious constraint this was. It limited not only how programs were constructed,
but what you could imagine a program doing. It constrained design, not just programming technique. The
introduction of functions that dynamically allocate memory as a program runs (such as malloc) opened
possibilities that didn’t exist before.


23

The Object Model
Dynamism

Compile-time and link-time constraints are limiting because they force issues to be decided from information
found in the programmer’s source code, rather than from information obtained from the user as the program
runs.
Although dynamic allocation removes one such constraint, many others, equally as limiting as static memory
allocation, remain. For example, the elements that make up an application must be matched to data types at
compile time. And the boundaries of an application are typically set at link time. Every part of the application
must be united in a single executable file. New modules and new types can’t be introduced as the program
runs.
Objective-C seeks to overcome these limitations and to make programs as dynamic and fluid as possible. It
shifts much of the burden of decision making from compile time and link time to runtime. The goal is to let
program users decide what will happen, rather than constrain their actions artificially by the demands of the
language and the needs of the compiler and linker.
Three kinds of dynamism are especially important for object-oriented design:
●

Dynamic typing, waiting until runtime to determine the class of an object

●

Dynamic binding, determining at runtime what method to invoke

●

Dynamic loading, adding new components to a program as it runs

Dynamic Typing
The compiler typically complains if the code you write assigns a value to a type that can’t accommodate it.
You might see warnings like these:
incompatible types in assignment
assignment of integer from pointer lacks a cast

Type checking is useful, but there are times when it can interfere with the benefits you get from polymorphism,
especially if the type of every object must be known to the compiler.
Suppose, for example, that you want to send an object a message to perform the start method. Like other
data elements, the object is represented by a variable. If the variable’s type (its class) must be known at compile
time, it would be impossible to let runtime factors influence the decision about what kind of object should be
assigned to the variable. If the class of the variable is fixed in source code, so is the version of start that the
message invokes.
If, on the other hand, it’s possible to wait until runtime to discover the class of the variable, any kind of object
could be assigned to it. Depending on the class of the receiver, the start message might invoke different
versions of the method and produce very different results.


24

The Object Model
Dynamism

Dynamic typing thus gives substance to dynamic binding (discussed next). But it does more than that. It permits
associations between objects to be determined at runtime, rather than forcing them to be encoded in a static
design. For example, a message could pass an object as a parameter without declaring exactly what kind of
object it is—that is, without declaring its class. The message receiver might then send its own messages to
the object, again without ever caring about what kind of object it is. Because the receiver uses the passed
object to do some of its work, it is in a sense customized by an object of indeterminate type (indeterminate
in source code, that is, not at runtime).

Dynamic Binding
In standard C, you can declare a set of alternative functions, such as the standard string-comparison functions,
int strcmp(const char *, const char *);

/* case sensitive */

int strcasecmp(const char *, const char *); /*case insensitive*/

and declare a pointer to a function that has the same return and parameter types:
int (* compare)(const char *, const char *);

You can then wait until runtime to determine which function to assign to the pointer,
if ( **argv == 'i' )
compare = strcasecmp;
else
compare = strcmp;

and call the function through the pointer:
if ( compare(s1, s2) )
...

This is akin to what in object-oriented programming is called dynamic binding, delaying the decision of exactly
which method to perform until the program is running.
Although not all object-oriented languages support it, dynamic binding can be routinely and transparently
accomplished through messaging. You don’t have to go through the indirection of declaring a pointer and
assigning values to it as shown in the example above. You also don’t have to assign each alternative procedure
a different name.


25

The Object Model
Dynamism

Messages invoke methods indirectly. Every message expression must find a method implementation to “call.”
To find that method, the messaging machinery must check the class of the receiver and locate its implementation
of the method named in the message. When this is done at runtime, the method is dynamically bound to the
message. When it’s done by the compiler, the method is statically bound.
Late binding Some object-oriented programming languages (notably C++) require a message
receiver to be statically typed in source code, but don’t require the type to be exact. An object can
be typed to its own class or to any class that it inherits from. The compiler therefore can’t tell whether
the message receiver is an instance of the class specified in the type declaration, an instance of a
subclass, or an instance of some more distantly derived class. Because it doesn’t know the exact class
of the receiver, it can’t know which version of the method named in the message to invoke. In this
circumstance, the choice is between treating the receiver as if it were an instance of the specified
class and simply bind the method defined for that class to the message, or waiting until some later
time to resolve the situation. In C++, the decision is postponed to link time for methods (member
functions) that are declared virtual. This is sometimes referred to as late binding rather than dynamic
binding . While dynamic in the sense that it happens at runtime, it carries with it strict compile-time
type constraints. As discussed here (and implemented in Objective-C), dynamic binding is
unconstrained.

Dynamic binding is possible even in the absence of dynamic typing, but it’s not very interesting. There’s little
benefit in waiting until runtime to match a method to a message when the class of the receiver is fixed and
known to the compiler. The compiler could just as well find the method itself; the runtime result won’t be any
different.
However, if the class of the receiver is dynamically typed, there’s no way for the compiler to determine which
method to invoke. The method can be found only after the class of the receiver is resolved at runtime. Dynamic
typing thus entails dynamic binding.
Dynamic typing also makes dynamic binding interesting, for it opens the possibility that a message might have
very different results depending on the class of the receiver. Runtime factors can influence the choice of receiver
and the outcome of the message.
Dynamic typing and binding also open the possibility that the code you write can send messages to objects
not yet invented. If object types don’t have to be decided until runtime, you can give others the freedom to
design their own classes and name their own data types and still have your code send messages to their objects.
All you need to agree on are the messages, not the data types.


26

The Object Model
Dynamism

Note Dynamic binding is routine in Objective-C. You don’t need to arrange for it specially, so your
design never needs to bother with what’s being done when.

Dynamic Loading
Historically, in many common environments, before a program can run, all its parts had to be linked together
in one file. When it was launched, the entire program was loaded into memory at once.
Some object-oriented programming environments overcome this constraint and allow different parts of an
executable program to be kept in different files. The program can be launched in bits and pieces as they’re
needed. Each piece is dynamically loaded and linked with the rest of program as it’s launched. User actions
can determine which parts of the program are in memory and which aren’t.
Only the core of a large program needs to be loaded at the start. Other modules can be added as the user
requests their services. Modules the user doesn’t request make no memory demands on the system.
Dynamic loading raises interesting possibilities. For example, an entire program does not have to be developed
at once. You can deliver your software in pieces and update one part of it at a time. You can devise a program
that groups several tools under a single interface, and load just the tools the user wants. The program can
even offer sets of alternative tools to do the same job—the user then selects one tool from the set and only
that tool would be loaded.
Perhaps the most important current benefit of dynamic loading is that it makes applications extensible. You
can allow others to add to and customize a program you’ve designed. All your program needs to do is provide
a framework that others can fill in, and, at runtime, find the pieces that they’ve implemented and load them
dynamically.
The main challenge that dynamic loading faces is getting a newly loaded part of a program to work with parts
already running, especially when the different parts were written by different people. However, much of this
problem disappears in an object-oriented environment because code is organized into logical modules with
a clear division between implementation and interface. When classes are dynamically loaded, nothing in the
newly loaded code can clash with the code already in place. Each class encapsulates its implementation and
has an independent namespace.
In addition, dynamic typing and dynamic binding let classes designed by others fit effortlessly into the program
you’ve designed. Once a class is dynamically loaded, it’s treated no differently than any other class. Your code
can send messages to their objects and theirs to yours. Neither of you has to know what classes the other has
implemented. You need only agree on a communications protocol.


27

The Object Model
Dynamism

Loading and linking Although it’s the term commonly used, dynamic loading could just as well
be called dynamic linking . Programs are linked when their various parts are joined so that they can
work together; they’re loaded when they’re read into volatile memory at launch time. Linking usually
precedes loading. Dynamic loading refers to the process of separately loading new or additional
parts of a program and linking them dynamically to the parts already running.


28

Structuring Programs

Object-oriented programs have two kinds of structure. One can be seen in the inheritance hierarchy of class
definitions. The other is evident in the pattern of message passing as the program runs. These messages reveal
a network of object connections.
●

●

The inheritance hierarchy explains how objects are related by type. For example, in the program that
models water use, it might turn out that faucets and pipes are the same kind of object, except that faucets
can be turned on and off and pipes can have multiple connections to other pipes. This similarity would
be captured in the program design if the Faucet and Pipe classes inherit from a common superclass.
The network of object connections explains how the program works. For example, Appliance objects
might send messages requesting water to valves, and valves to pipes. Pipes might communicate with the
Building object, and the Building object with all the valves, faucets, and pipes, but not directly with
appliances. To communicate with each other in this way, objects must know about each other. An
Appliance object would need a connection to a Valve object, and a Valve object to a Pipe object,
and so on. These connections define a program structure.

Object-oriented programs are designed by laying out the network of objects with their behaviors and patterns
of interaction and by arranging the hierarchy of classes. There’s structure both in the program’s activity and
in its definition.

Outlet Connections
Part of the task of designing an object-oriented program is to arrange the object network. The network doesn’t
have to be static; it can change dynamically as the program runs. Relationships between objects can be
improvised as needed, and the cast of objects that play assigned roles can change from time to time. But there
has to be a script.
Some connections can be entirely transitory. A message might contain a parameter identifying an object,
perhaps the sender of the message, that the receiver can communicate with. As it responds to the message,
the receiver can send messages to that object, perhaps identifying itself or still another object that the object
can in turn communicate with. Such connections are fleeting; they last only as long as the chain of messages.


29

Outlet Connections

But not all connections between objects can be handled on the fly. Some need to be recorded in program
data structures. There are various ways to do this. A table might be kept of object connections, or there might
be a service that identifies objects by name. However, the simplest way is for each object to have instance
variables that keep track of the other objects it must communicate with. These instance variables—termed
outlets because they record the outlets for messages—define the principal connections between objects in
the program network.
Although the names of outlet instance variables are arbitrary, they generally reflect the roles that outlet objects
play. Figure 4-1 illustrates an object with four outlets—an agent, a friend, a neighbor, and a boss. The objects
that play these parts may change every now and then, but the roles remain the same.
Figure 4-1

Outlets

agent
friend
neighbor
boss

Some outlets are set when the object is first initialized and may never change. Others might be set automatically
as the consequence of other actions. Still others can be set freely, using methods provided just for that purpose.
However they’re set, outlet instance variables reveal the structure of the application. They link objects into a
communicating network, much as the components of a water system are linked by their physical connections
or as individuals are linked by their patterns of social relations.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Connections
Outlet connections can capture many different kinds of relationships between objects. Sometimes the connection
is between objects that communicate more or less as equal partners in an application, each with its own role
to play and neither dominating the other. For example, an Appliance object might have an outlet instance
variable to keep track of the valve it’s connected to.


30

Aggregation and Decomposition

Sometimes one object should be seen as being part of another. For example, a Faucet object might use a
Meter object to measure the amount of water being released. The Meter object would serve no other object
and would act only under orders from the Faucet object. It would be an intrinsic part of the Faucet object,
in contrast to an Appliance object’s extrinsic connection to a Valve object.
Similarly, an object that oversees other objects might keep a list of its charges. A Building object, for example,
might have a list of all the Pipe objects in the program. The Pipe objects would be considered an intrinsic
part of the Building object and belong to it. Pipe objects, on the other hand, would maintain extrinsic
connections to each other.
Intrinsic outlets behave differently from extrinsic ones. When an object is freed or archived in a file on disk,
the objects that its intrinsic outlets point to must be freed or archived with it. For example, when a faucet is
freed, its meter is rendered useless and therefore should be freed as well. A faucet archived without its meter
would be of little use when it’s unarchived (unless it could create a new Meter object for itself ).
Extrinsic outlets, on the other hand, capture the organization of the program at a higher level. They record
connections between relatively independent program subcomponents. When an Appliance object is freed,
the Valve object it was connected to still is of use and remains in place. When an Appliance object is
unarchived, it can be connected to another valve and resume playing the same sort of role it played before.

Activating the Object Network
The object network is set into motion by an external stimulus. If you’re writing an interactive application with
a user interface, it will respond to user actions on the keyboard and mouse. A program that tries to factor very
large numbers might start when you pass it a target number on the command line. Other programs might
respond to data received over a phone line, information obtained from a database, or information about the
state of a mechanical process the program monitors.
Programs often are activated by a flow of events, which are reports of external activity of some sort. Applications
that display a user interface are driven by events from the keyboard and mouse. Every press of a key or click
of the mouse generates events that the application receives and responds to. An object-oriented program
structure (a network of objects that’s prepared to respond to an external stimulus) is ideally suited for this kind
of user-driven application.

Aggregation and Decomposition
Another part of the design task is deciding the arrangement of classes—when to add functionality to an existing
class by defining a subclass and when to define an independent class. The problem can be clarified by imagining
what would happen in the extreme case:


31

Models and Frameworks

●

●

It’s possible to conceive of a program consisting of just one object. Because it’s the only object, it can send
messages only to itself. It therefore can’t take advantage of polymorphism, or the modularity of a variety
of classes, or a program design conceived as a network of interconnected objects. The true structure of
the program would be hidden inside the class definition. Despite being written in an object-oriented
language, there would be very little that was object-oriented about it.
On the other hand, it’s also possible to imagine a program that consists of hundreds of different kinds of
objects, each with very few methods and limited functionality. Here, too, the structure of the program
would be lost, this time in a maze of object connections.

Obviously, it’s best to avoid either of these extremes, to keep objects large enough to take on a substantial
role in the program but small enough to keep that role well-defined. The structure of the program should be
easy to grasp in the pattern of object connections.
Nevertheless, the question often arises of whether to add more functionality to a class or to factor out the
additional functionality and put it in a separate class definition. For example, a Faucet object needs to keep
track of how much water is being used over time. To do that, you could either implement the necessary methods
in the Faucet class, or you could devise a generic Meter object to do the job, as suggested earlier. Each
Faucet object would have an outlet connecting it to a Meter object, and the meter would not interact with
any object but the faucet.
The choice often depends on your design goals. If the Meter object could be used in more than one situation,
perhaps in another project entirely, it would increase the reusability of your code to factor the metering task
into a separate class. If you have reason to make Faucet objects as self-contained as possible, the metering
functionality could be added to the Faucet class.
It’s generally better to try for reusable code and avoid having large classes that do so many things that they
can’t be adapted to other situations. When objects are designed as components, they become that much more
reusable. What works in one system or configuration might well work in another.
Dividing functionality between different classes doesn’t necessarily complicate the programming interface. If
the Faucet class keeps the Meter object private, the Meter interface wouldn’t have to be published for users
of the Faucet class; the object would be as hidden as any other Faucet instance variable.

Objects combine state and behavior, and so resemble things in the real world. Because they resemble real
things, designing an object-oriented program is very much like thinking about real things—what they do, how
they work, and how one thing is connected to another.


32


When you design an object-oriented program, you are, in effect, putting together a computer simulation of
how something works. Object networks look and behave like models of real systems. An object-oriented
program can be thought of as a model, even if there’s no actual counterpart to it in the real world.
Each component of the model—each kind of object—is described in terms of its behavior, responsibilities,
and interactions with other components. Because an object’s interface lies in its methods, not its data, you can
begin the design process by thinking about what a system component must do, not how it’s represented in
data. Once the behavior of an object is decided, the appropriate data structure can be chosen, but this is a
matter of implementation, not the initial design.
For example, in the water-use program, you wouldn’t begin by deciding what the Faucet data structure looked
like, but what you wanted a Faucet object to do—make a connection to a pipe, be turned on and off, adjust
the rate of flow, and so on. The design is therefore not bound from the outset by data choices. You can decide
on the behavior first and implement the data afterwards. Your choice of data structures can change over time
without affecting the design.
Designing an object-oriented program doesn’t necessarily entail writing great amounts of code. The reusability
of class definitions means that the opportunity is great for building a program largely out of classes devised
by others. It might even be possible to construct interesting programs entirely out of classes someone else
defined. As the suite of class definitions grows, you have more and more reusable parts to choose from.
Reusable classes come from many sources. Development projects often yield reusable class definitions, and
some enterprising developers market them. Object-oriented programming environments typically come with
class libraries. There are well over two hundred classes in the Cocoa libraries. Some of these classes offer basic
services (hashing, data storage, remote messaging). Others are more specific (user interface devices, video
displays, sound).
Typically, a group of library classes work together to define a partial program structure. These classes constitute
a software framework (or kit) that can be used to build a variety of different kinds of applications. When you
use a framework, you accept the program model it provides and adapt your design to it. You use the framework
by:
●

Initializing and arranging instances of framework classes

●

Defining subclasses of framework classes

●

Defining new classes of your own to work with classes defined in the framework

In each of these ways, you not only adapt your program to the framework, but you also adapt the generic
framework structure to the specialized purposes of your application.
The framework, in essence, sets up part of an object network for your program and provides part of its class
hierarchy. Your own code completes the program model started by the framework.


33

Structuring the Programming Task

Object-oriented programming not only structures programs in a better way, it also helps structure the
programming task.
As software tries to do more and more, and programs become bigger and more complicated, the problem of
managing the task also grows. There are more pieces to fit together and more people working together to
build them. The object-oriented approach offers ways of dealing with this complexity, not just in design, but
also in the organization of the work.

Collaboration
Complex software requires an extraordinary collaborative effort among people who must be individually
creative, yet still make what they do fit exactly with what others are doing.
The sheer size of the effort and the number of people working on the same project at the same time in the
same place can get in the way of the group’s ability to work cooperatively towards a common goal. In addition,
collaboration is often impeded by barriers of time, space, and organization:
●

●

●

Code must be maintained, improved, and used long after it’s written. Programmers who collaborate on a
project may not be working on it at the same time, so they may not be in a position to talk things over
and keep each other informed about details of the implementation.
Even if programmers work on the same project at the same time, they may not be located in the same
place. This also inhibits how closely they can work together.
Programmers working in different groups with different priorities and different schedules often must
collaborate on projects. Communication across organizational barriers isn’t always easy to achieve.

The answer to these difficulties must grow out of the way programs are designed and written. It can’t be
imposed from the outside in the form of hierarchical management structures and strict levels of authority.
These often get in the way of people’s creativity, and become burdens in and of themselves. Rather, collaboration
must be built into the work itself.


34

Organizing Object-Oriented Projects

That’s where object-oriented programming techniques can help. For example, the reusability of object-oriented
code means that programmers can collaborate effectively, even when they work on different projects at
different times or are in different organizations, just by sharing their code in libraries. This kind of collaboration
holds a great deal of promise, for it can conceivably lighten difficult tasks and make seemingly impossible
projects achievable.

Object-oriented programming helps restructure the programming task in ways that benefit collaboration. It
helps eliminate the need to collaborate on low-level implementation details, while providing structures that
facilitate collaboration at a higher level. Almost every feature of the object model, from the possibility of
large-scale design to the increased reusability of code, has consequences for the way people work together.

Designing on a Large Scale
When programs are designed at a high level of abstraction, the division of labor is more easily conceived. It
can match the division of the program on logical lines; the way a project is organized can grow out of its design.
With an object-oriented design, it’s easier to keep common goals in sight, instead of losing them in the
implementation, and easier for everyone to see how the piece they’re working on fits into the whole. Their
collaborative efforts are therefore more likely to be on target.

Separating the Interface from the Implementation
The connections between the various components of an object-oriented program are worked out early in the
design process. They can be well-defined, at least for the initial phase of development, before implementation
begins.
During implementation, only this interface needs to be coordinated, and most of that falls naturally out of the
design. Because each class encapsulates its implementation and has its own namespace, there’s no need to
coordinate implementation details. Collaboration is simpler when there are fewer coordination requirements.

Dividing the Work into Modules
The modularity of object-oriented programming means that the logical components of a large program can
each be implemented separately. Different people can work on different classes. Each implementation task is
isolated from the others.


35


Modularity has benefits, not just for organizing the implementation, but for fixing problems later. Because
implementations are contained within class boundaries, problems that come up are also likely to be isolated.
It’s easier to track down bugs when they’re located in a well-defined part of the program.
Separating responsibilities by class also means that each part can be worked on by specialists. Classes can be
updated periodically to optimize their performance and make the best use of new technologies. These updates
don’t have to be coordinated with other parts of the program. As long as the interface to an object doesn’t
change, improvements to its implementation can be scheduled at any time.

Keeping the Interface Simple
The polymorphism of object-oriented programs yields simpler programming interfaces, since the same names
and conventions can be reused in any number of classes. The result is less to learn, a greater shared
understanding of how the whole system works, and a simpler path to cooperation and collaboration.

Making Decisions Dynamically
Because object-oriented programs make decisions dynamically at runtime, less information needs to be supplied
at compile time (in source code) to make two pieces of code work together. Consequently, there’s less to
coordinate and less to go wrong.

Inheriting Generic Code
Inheritance is a way of reusing code. If you can define your classes as specializations of more generic classes,
your programming task is simplified. The design is simplified as well, since the inheritance hierarchy lays out
the relationships between the different levels of implementation and makes them easier to understand.
Inheritance also increases the reusability and reliability of code. The code placed in a superclass is tested by
its subclasses. The generic class you find in a library will have been tested by other subclasses written by other
developers for other applications.

Reusing Tested Code
The more software you can borrow from others and incorporate in your own programs, the less you have to
do yourself. There’s more software to borrow in an object-oriented programming environment because the
code is more reusable. Collaboration between programmers working in different places for different
organizations is enhanced, while the burden of each project is eased.


36


Classes and frameworks from an object-oriented library can make substantial contributions to your program.
When you program with the software frameworks provided by Apple, for example, you’re effectively collaborating
with the programmers at Apple; you’re contracting a part of your program, often a substantial part, to them.
You can concentrate on what you do best and leave other tasks to the library developer. Your projects can be
prototyped faster, completed faster, with less of a collaborative challenge at your own site.
The increased reusability of object-oriented code also increases its reliability. A class taken from a library is
likely to have found its way into a variety of applications and situations. The more the code has been used, the
more likely it is that problems will have been encountered and fixed. Bugs that would have seemed strange
and hard to find in your program might already have been tracked down and eliminated.


37

Document Revision History

This table describes the changes to Object-Oriented Programming with Objective-C .
Date

Notes

2010-11-15

Edited for content and clarity.

2008-11-19

Corrected typographical errors.

2007-12-11

Corrected a typographical error.

2007-07-09

Originally published as part of "The Objective-C Programming Language".


38

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provided that the documentation contains
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respect to any of the technology described in this
document. Apple retains all intellectual property
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