What Is The Difference Between Structured And Object Oriented Programming
The main difference between structured and object oriented programming is that structured programming allows developing a program using a set of modules or functions, while object oriented programming allows constructing a program using a set of objects and their interactions.
A computer program is a set of instructions that instruct the CPU to perform a defined task. We can write computer programs using various programming languages. Furthermore, a programming paradigm is a way of categorizing a programming language depending on its features. Two such paradigms are structured and object oriented programming.
Key Areas Covered
- What is Structured Programming
- What is Object Oriented Programming
- Difference between Structured and Object Oriented Programming
Structured Programming V/S Object Oriented Programming
What is Structured Programming
Structured Programming(also called Modular Programming), as name suggests, is a technique that is considered as precursor to OOP and usually consists of well-structured and separated modules. In this programming, user can create its own user-defined functions as well as this methodology tries to resolve issues that are associated with unconditional transfers to allow programmers follow logic of programs. It also requires more discipline at the design and logical structing stage. C language and Pascal are two common structured programming languages.
In the structured programming C, the user can create his own user-defined functions. The main function calls the other functions. It indicates the execution of the program. When there is a function call, the control is passed to that function. After completing the function, the control passes back to the main program. Moreover, a variable inside a function is a local variable, and global variables are accessible by all the functions.
What is Object Oriented Programming
Object-Oriented Programming, as name suggests, is a different approach to programming that brings together data and functions that execute on them.Object oriented programming allows the programmer to represent real-world scenarios using objects. Furthermore, a class is a blueprint for creating an object and it is necessary to have a class to create objects. In addition to classes and objects, there are four major pillars in OOP. They are as follows :
Encapsulation — Binds or combines properties and methods into a single unit.
Inheritance — Allows a class to use properties and methods of an already existing class
Polymorphism — Allows an object to perform in multiple ways — Overloading and overriding are two ways of achieving polymorphism.
Abstraction — Hides the internal details and displays only the functionalities to the user. Moreover, abstract classes and interfaces help to achieve abstraction.
It also includes data hiding feature therefore it is more secure. This model is based on real life entities that focuses on by whom task is to be done rather than focusing on what to do.
Difference between Structured and Object Oriented Programming
Definition
Structured programming is a programming paradigm which divides the code into modules or function, while OOP is a programming paradigm based on the concept of objects, which contain data in the form of fields known as attributes, and code in the form of procedures known as methods. Thus, this explains the main difference between structured and object oriented programming.
Main Focus
Furthermore, structured programming focuses on dividing the program into a set of functions in which each function works as a subprogram while object oriented programming focuses on representing a program using a set of objects which encapsulates data and object.
Communication
In structured programming, the main method communicates with the functions by calling those functions in the main program whereas, in object oriented programming, the objects communicate with each other by passing messages. Hence, this is an important difference between structured and object oriented programming.
Access Specifiers
There are no access specifiers in structured programming while there are access specifiers such as private, public and protected in Object Oriented Programming. Thus, this is also an important difference between structured and object oriented programming
Security
Besides, data is not secure in structured programming, but it is secure in object oriented programming.
Code Reusability
Also, it is difficult to reuse code in structured programming, whereas it is easier to reuse code in object oriented programming.
Conclusion
Overall, structured and object oriented programming are two major programming paradigms. The main difference between structured and object oriented programming is that structured programming helps to develop a program using a set of modules or functions while object oriented programming helps to construct a program using a set of objects and their interactions.
