Editing Class (computer programming) (section)

{{Short description|Specification of an object}}

In [[object-oriented programming]], a '''class''' defines the shared aspects of [[Object (computer science)|objects]] created from the class. The capabilities of a class differ between [[programming language]]s, but generally the shared aspects consist of state ([[Variable (computer science)|variables]]) and behavior ([[Method (computer programming)|methods]]) that are each either associated with a particular object or with all objects of that class.{{sfn|Gamma|Helm|Johnson|Vlissides|1995|p=14}}{{sfn|Bruce|2002|loc=2.1 Objects, classes, and object types, {{Google books|9NGWq3K1RwUC|Objects, classes, and object types|page=18|plainurl=yes}}}}

Object state can differ between each instance of the class whereas the class state is shared by all of them. The object methods include access to the object state (via an implicit or explicit parameter that references the object) whereas class methods do not.

If the language supports [[Inheritance (object-oriented programming)|inheritance]], a class can be defined based on another class with all of its state and behavior plus additional state and behavior that further specializes the class. The specialized class is a ''sub-class'', and the class it is based on is its ''superclass''.