When to use OOP

Anon

Hi,

I am embarking on a php project, and being new to php, i've done some reading up on it. I understand that php is structural programming, there is however, and object oriented side to it.

I am wondering, when should i use OOP? must it be used on very massive site? or any small sites would be fine? does it slow down performance should i program in OOP?

if there's anyone who have seen any articles about comparing and contrusting OOP with structural programming, pls forward me a link.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,
Javier

Anon

If this is your first foray into programming then laern how basic OOP works but don't ues it. You can get by just fine without objects.

After you've built something of significant size you'll start to see where objects can be useful. These are usually cases where modularity is easily defined like db abstraction, string handling, email modules, etc.

Anon

Dude,

OOP is a very useful feature in programming. Whether you should use it or not - it is really up to you.

In my experience with OOP I can say that OOP doesn't have to be used for big projects exclusively - it can be used for any projects.

Great thing about OOP is that its code reusable, extensible, and easily modifiable.

PHPBuilder has several articles on OOP, but... I don't like them. If you really want to understand OOP - you have to write your own working class, once you'll do it on your own (without any help) - then you can say that you truly understand how OOP works.

Professional PHP Programming from wrox has a chapter on OOP, and I think that authors did a good job explaining it.

Check articles also on DevShed.com. If you still won't understand classes - drop a line on this forum, and I'll write a short tutorial.