Hi,

The other day i was discussing OOP with a freind who is much more advanced than i am in coding. I became totally confused when he did not understand what i meant my composite objects, and suggested i was mistaken - and that in fact i probably meant polymorphism.

Can anyone clarify this please. I thought perhaps the terminology was a processing thing: that a composite is easier to understand that polymorphism, but i googling i find both - and niether refer to the other??

the following explains composite objects in computer programming generally as i understand it from processing guides:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_composition

but the later explains OOP with no reference to composition but it does to polymorphism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming

it seems inheritance is 'standard', so thats clear but whats the difference between polymorphism and composite objects?

can anyone clarify this please? thanks.

Thanks blindfish,

looking a little further i found on this page a reference to the "composite code reuse principle":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance_(object-oriented_programming)

it seems that composite objects are a 'kind of' polymorphism...
"The Composite Reuse Principle in object-oriented programming is a
technique by which classes may achieve polymorphic behavior and code reuse by containing other classes which implement the desired functionality instead of through Inheritance.....this technique is often referred to as 'Composition' over 'Inheritance'."
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_reuse_principle
and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encapsulation_(computer_science)#Encapsulation

i need an idiots guide but i think i understand it correctly that;
Encapsulation conceals the functional details of a class from objects that send messages to it.
For example, the Dog class has a bark() method. The code for the bark() method defines exactly how a bark happens (e.g., by inhale() and then exhale(), at a particular pitch and volume).
(which is the same as composition)
and polymorphism allows the programmer to treat derived class members just like their parent class's members. More precisely, Polymorphism in object-oriented programming is the ability of objects belonging to different data types to respond to calls of methods of the same name, each one according to an appropriate type-specific behavior. One method, or an operator such as +, -, or *, can be abstractly applied in many different situations. If a Dog is commanded to speak(), this may elicit a bark(). However, if a Pig is commanded to speak(), this may elicit an oink(). Each subclass overrides the speak() method inherited from the parent class Animal.
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_oriented_programming#Encapsulation