Re: C++ to Fortran

gah4 <gah4@u.washington.edu> writes:

I don't know the history of OO, and especially when the
actual term originated.

  While Simula actually implemented many ideas of OOP,
  the term "object-oriented" was coined by Alan Kay.

  Since C++ was mentioned in this discussion, I have to
  quote Alan Kay:

|I invented the term "object-oriented" and I can tell you I did
|not have C++ in mind.

  .

It seems that some of the OO ideas might have originated in COBOL,
and slowly spread until they got named, into other languages.

  COBOL indeed is know for its "computerization of business records"
  (Sebasta). But this is not OOP.

  Crucial parts of OOP that are still missing from records are:

  - abstract data types, that allow to hide implementation details;

  - polymorphism, that allows abstract calls (i.e., when the call
    is written, the type of the object is not specified); and

  - code organization that make it easy to add new types (while
    procedural programming makes it easy to add new procedures).