Your First Class: Introduction to OOP

Snippet

Your First Class: Introduction to OOP

Classes are blueprints for creating objects. A class defines properties (like name and age) and behaviors (like bark and birthday). You create an object from a class using the class name as a type. Each object has its own copy of the properties.

snippet.cpp

cpp

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
class Dog {
public:
    string name;
    int age;
    
    void bark() {
        cout << name << " says: Woof!" << endl;
    }
    
    void birthday() {
        age = age + 1;
    }
};
 
int main() {
    Dog myDog;
    myDog.name = "Buddy";
    myDog.age = 3;
    myDog.bark();
    myDog.birthday();
    cout << myDog.name << " is now " << myDog.age << " years old" << endl;
    return 0;
}

Breakdown

class Dog {

Defines a new class type called Dog

string name; int age;

Member variables storing the dog's data

void bark()

Member function that performs an action

Dog myDog;

Creates an actual Dog object instance

myDog.name = "Buddy";

Accesses and sets the object's name property

Previous snippet Next snippet

More Beginner C++ exercises →

From your library

Your First Class: Introduction to OOP

Related