What's Next?

At this point, you have started to see object-oriented programming in action. It may seem like a lot of difficult typing at the moment, and I'm sure you can think of other kinds of solutions. Remember that it is important for programs to grow and be extended, and object-oriented programming builds a foundation for that growth. It encourages code reuse on a higher level than does structured programming. It decomposes programs into self-sufficient modules that can easily be given to different programmers to finish.

In Chapter 9, “Copying, Initialization, and Assignment,” we'll discuss objects in more detail. We will discuss how C++ objects are copied, how to customize type conversions, and generally how to invent fully defined types for which you have full control over every aspect of the object's life.