Classes vs. Objects
It is important to remember that classes are just templates for creating new objects. Objects contain both a state and behavior, and is an instance of a class.
Instances
An instance is a specific version of an object that can differ in numerous ways.
Going back to the previous chapter, Rectangle, Animal, and Vehicle are all classes. These classes, as is, are considered a type, unless you create a specific version of the class.
In essence, if we create two different vehicles they would be specific instances of the Vehicle class.
Remember, An object is an instance of a class.
Examples
public class ExampleClass extends ConsoleProgram
{
public void run()
{
// `Animal` is our class.
// `myDog` and `myCat` are objects, because
// they are specific instances of our `Animal` class.
Animal myDog = new Animal("Cujo", true, 7);
Animal myCat = new Animal("Kerby", true, 2);
}
}
public class ExampleClass extends ConsoleProgram
{
public void run()
{
// `Rectangle` is our class.
//`mySquare` and `myRectangle` are objects, because
// they are specific instances of our `Rectangle` class.
Rectangle mySquare = new Rectangle(20, 20);
Rextangle myRectangle = new Rectangle(5, 10);
}
}