Advantages and Disadvantages of OOP (Why OOP)

OOP stands for Object-Oriented Programming. It is one of the most followed programming paradigms that revolve around the concept of objects (data and code) rather than functions and logic. Data and code together make up an object, where data takes the form of fields called attributes or properties, and code typically takes the form of methods or procedures.

The primary goal of the object-oriented programming principle is to put together the data and functions (methods) working on that data. Furthermore, the intent behind binding the data and functions is that no other part of a program can access the data except the function working on that data.

OOPs simplifies the development and maintenance of software applications through four basic concepts: Inheritance, Abstraction, Polymorphism, and Encapsulation. Some popular programming languages that follow the OOPs principle are C++, Java, Python, Objective-C, Perl, Modula, Ada, Smalltalk, etc.

Why OOPs? 

After knowing what OOPs are, you might wonder why we need OOPs. The primary reason for using OOPs is that it lets programmers write the source code of large and complex applications in reusable pieces of code blueprints called classes. 

Let us take a real-life example to see why we need OOPs. Consider a light bulb, which has two different states: on and off. It is possible to change the state of the bulb. If it is on, you can switch it off, and vice versa. To do this, you simply need to know how to interact with the bulb, not the entire electrical engineering. 

In the above example, each state and its functionality to change that state are bound together, and the details are hidden from us. This is what object-oriented programming is. It combines data and functions working on that data together without exposing the details that are not useful for users. So, when you write code using OOPs, it becomes modular, flexible, and abstract. 

OOPs work on the following core concepts:

1. Encapsulation: It lets you combine code into a single unit. 
2. Abstraction: This allows you to generalize your object types and simplify the program.
3. Polymorphism: You can create multiple objects of a single class. 
4. Inheritance: One class can inherit the properties from the other class.

Advantages of OOPs

Here are some remarkable benefits of OOPs:

• Ideal for Large and Complex Programs: When you need to develop large and complex programs, OOPs comes in handy to write them quickly and easily as it eliminates unnecessary code. Because of objects, classes, methods, and properties, OOPs make writing and maintaining programs easier.
• Demonstrate Real-World in your Programs: OOPs lets you describe everything present in the world as a collection of properties and actions, which are typically objects. As it is capable of representing real-world entities, OOPs has the ability to solve real-world problems better than other programming approaches. 
• Modularity: It is a technique of splitting an extensive program into small and easy-to-understand modules. With OOPs, it is possible to achieve modularity. We can divide a large real-world problem into smaller ones and solve each at a time to reduce the complexity of the problem. 
• Programs are Easy to Read and Comprehend: As OOPs divide larger programs into smaller modules, it becomes easier for us to read and comprehend those programs. Also, OOPs eliminates the need for writing the traits and behaviours of each character or real-world entity. Thus, the programs are brief and easy to comprehend. 
• Facilitates Code Writing: OOPs facilitates the process of code writing because you can reuse existing objects in the current program. So, instead of writing a specific program from the ground up, you can simply reuse the existing objects and modify them according to the program’s requirements. 
• Easy Debugging of Programs: Writing programs using the OOPs principle make them easy to debug because objects are self-contained.
• High Security: As discussed above, OOPs combines data and the methods working on that data together; no other part of the program can access that data. So, OOPs enables you to write secure programs. 
• Reusability of Code: Using OOPs, you need to write the code once and use it whenever required. And you can achieve this using the concept of classes. 
• Reduced Cost of Development: As OOPs support the reusability feature, it significantly reduces the cost of development.

Disadvantages of OOPs

Let us now throw light on some disadvantages of OOPs.

• Larger Size and Length of Programs: When you create programs using the OOPs approach, the length of programs are larger than the procedural one. As the length of programs increases, so does the size. Therefore, the larger size of programs results in slow execution and, in turn, a lot of time. 
• Not Ideal for all Problems: OOPs is not a universal approach; hence, it is not suitable for all sorts of problems. Use it whenever it is required and not everywhere.
  
• Requires Proper Planning and Excellent Programming Skills: In order to write programs using the OOPs approach, one needs to possess excellent programming expertise. In addition, planning skills play a vital role as you need to have a proper plan of implementation beforehand for writing any program.
  
• Everything in OOPs is an Object: You need to have a better grasp of objects because everything in OOPs is an object. So, think deeply before you apply the OOPs concepts.
  
• Steep Learning Curve: OOPs have a steep learning curve. Novices may find it pretty challenging to learn at the beginning. The type of thought process required to write OOPs programs may not be possible for everyone naturally. So, it may take time for some people to get along with OOPs. 

Summary

The object-oriented programming paradigm that revolves around objects has made it simple for programmers to write large and complex programs easily and quickly. Reusability, modularity, security, reduced development cost, and faster code writing are some of the benefits OOPs offer. However, you should be mindful of the fact that you need to possess high programming and planning skills to implement the OOPs approach. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why do we require OOPs?

We require OOPs to write and maintain large and intricate programs with ease and proper structure. It is also necessary to solve real-world problems. 

2. Why is it called OOPs?

OOPs or object-oriented programming is called OOPs because this approach is centered around objects that combine data and code together. This paradigm leverages objects as the main source for implementing everything that has to take place in the code. 

3. What are the main features of OOPs?

The main features of OOPs include abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, method overloading, and method overriding. 

Sameeksha Medewar

Sameeksha is a freelance content writer for more than half and a year. She has a hunger to explore and learn new things. She possesses a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.