A class act: the rise of object-oriented technology

Too much software development seems trapped in a pre-industrial age, bereft of the productivity gains of standard components and standard designs. Object-oriented technology promises to end such failings forever. The author briefly discusses the origins of object oriented software and how it works. Objects communicating via messages form the basis of object-oriented technology (OOT). However, the real power of OOT only becomes apparent when these basic concepts are combined with the rather more subtle ideas of class, hierarchy inheritance and polymorphism. The author discusses these concepts and the impact of OOT on computer programming