Revisit the Essentials of Object Oriented Programming

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses "objects" and their interactions to design applications and computer programs.

Key characteristics of OOP include:

1. Objects: Objects are instances of classes, which can hold data in the form of fields, also known as attributes, and code, in the form of procedures, also known as methods. For example, in a system designed to track a school, individual students could be objects, each having attributes like name, age, and grade, and methods such as enroll in a course, drop a course, etc.

2. Classes: A class defines the blueprint for a data format, kind of like a template. They encapsulate data and the methods that operate on that data. Following the school example, you might have a Student class, a Course class, and a Teacher class.

3. Inheritance: This allows classes to inherit commonly used states and behaviors from other classes. For instance, a MathStudent class could inherit from the Student class, while adding math-specific behaviors.

4. Polymorphism: This allows methods to be used in different ways depending on the type of data they're acting upon. For example, the "+" operator can be used to add numbers, concatenate strings, or merge lists, depending on the context.

5. Encapsulation: This is the practice of hiding data inside a class and making it available only through methods. This ensures that the state of an object can only be changed in ways the designer intended. It also helps keep data and methods safe from inadvertent changes.

The main advantage of OOP is its clear structure, which can make the programming process simpler and more approachable for developers, especially for large software projects. It's also often easier to maintain and modify existing code using the OOP approach. Popular programming languages that support the OOP paradigm include Java, C++, Python, and Ruby.