Working with Objects
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Most modern programming languages use objects. Objects are a way to organize code. Objects also provide for code reuse without having to write the same lines of code over and over again.
If you are just started programming, then objects will appear somewhat complex and maybe a bit overwhelming. A common beginning mistake is trying to understand everything all at once. For this course, focus on the high level concepts. In later courses, you’ll actually get into the weeds. This course is just introducing you to the garden.
Creating objects
Objects do a few things, but one critical thing is it allows you to group data, and pass that data around as a singular object. In the previous demo, you created a firstName and lastName variable. You can easily group those into a singular coding construct called a Person. You would define it like so:
class Person {
var firstName = ""
var lastName = ""
}
var katie = Person()
var sam = Person()
var jeremy = Person()
jeremy.firstName = "Jeremy"
jeremy.lastName = "Patterson"
Calling methods
Objects don’t just contain data. They can also act on that data. You define something known as method. A method is just a short block of code that can run on demand. Often times, these are called functions as well. For example, you can write a method to print out the full name.
class Person {
var firstName = ""
var lastName = ""
func printFullName() {
print("\(firstName) \(lastName)")
}
}
katie.printFullName()