Recently, mobile application development has become active, and among them, Android application development is gaining attention.
Kotlin is the official Android app development language supported by Google, loved by many developers for its concise and safe syntax.
In this course, we will explore the basic concepts of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and how to apply them in Android app development using Kotlin.
Specifically, we will discuss common mistakes in Object-Oriented Programming through the topic of ‘Mistakes in Object-Oriented Programming’ and their solutions.
1. Basics of Object-Oriented Programming
Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a method of developing programs by dividing them into independent structures called objects.
An object is a unit that contains both data and methods to process that data, and the program operates through interactions between objects.
The four principles of OOP are as follows:
- Encapsulation: Bundling data and methods into a single unit and restricting external access to protect data.
- Inheritance: Reusing the properties and methods of existing classes in new classes.
- Polymorphism: Having the same method name, but performing different functions depending on the type of object.
- Abstraction: Hiding unnecessary implementation details and only showing essential characteristics.
2. Common Mistakes in Object-Oriented Programming
The common mistakes that many developers make while learning Object-Oriented Programming are as follows:
- Poor class design: Creating classes with too many functions without clearly defining the responsibilities and roles of objects, thereby increasing complexity.
- Excessive inheritance: Creating unnecessary inheritance structures without understanding the complexity of multiple inheritance.
- Unnecessary global state usage: Abusing global variables, which decreases code readability and maintainability.
- Lack of dependency injection: Writing code that is difficult to test and reuse.
3. Object-Oriented Programming Design Using Kotlin
Kotlin provides powerful features that support class and object-oriented programming.
Below is an example of a basic class definition and object usage in Kotlin:
// Class definition
class Car(val brand: String, val model: String) {
fun drive() {
println("$brand $model is driving.")
}
}
// Object creation
fun main() {
val myCar = Car("Hyundai", "Sonata")
myCar.drive() // Hyundai Sonata is driving.
}
4. Advanced Object-Oriented Programming Concepts
Now we will discuss advanced concepts such as inheritance, polymorphism, abstraction, and interfaces.
4.1 Inheritance
Inheritance is a feature that allows newly defined classes to reuse the properties and methods of existing classes.
This reduces code duplication and allows for more efficient design.
Below is an example utilizing inheritance:
// Base class
open class Vehicle(val brand: String) {
open fun start() {
println("$brand vehicle has started.")
}
}
// Inherited class
class Motorcycle(brand: String) : Vehicle(brand) {
override fun start() {
println("$brand motorcycle has started.")
}
}
// Object creation
fun main() {
val myMotorcycle = Motorcycle("Honda")
myMotorcycle.start() // Honda motorcycle has started.
}
4.2 Polymorphism
Polymorphism is an important characteristic of OOP that allows the same method to behave differently depending on the actual type of the object.
Below is an example utilizing polymorphism:
fun startVehicle(vehicle: Vehicle) {
vehicle.start() // Starts with Vehicle type.
}
// Object creation
fun main() {
val car = Car("Kia", "K5")
startVehicle(car) // Kia vehicle has started.
val motorcycle = Motorcycle("BMW")
startVehicle(motorcycle) // BMW motorcycle has started.
}
4.3 Abstraction
Abstraction means representing only the essential properties and hiding unnecessary details.
In Kotlin, abstract classes can be used.
Below is an example of abstraction:
abstract class Animal {
abstract val name: String
abstract fun makeSound()
}
class Dog : Animal() {
override val name = "Dog"
override fun makeSound() {
println("$name: Woof")
}
}
fun main() {
val myDog = Dog()
myDog.makeSound() // Dog: Woof
}
4.4 Interfaces
An interface provides a blueprint of the methods that an object must implement.
This allows classes to benefit from multiple inheritance.
Below is an example utilizing interfaces:
interface Drivable {
fun drive()
}
class Truck : Drivable {
override fun drive() {
println("Truck is driving.")
}
}
fun main() {
val myTruck = Truck()
myTruck.drive() // Truck is driving.
}
5. Conclusion
In this course, we explored the concepts of object-oriented programming in Kotlin.
In particular, we discussed common mistakes made in OOP design and proposed solutions to them.
Proper object-oriented programming can enhance the readability, maintainability, and reusability of code, and
these concepts will shine even more in Android app development using Kotlin.
I encourage you to refer to the examples above and design and create your own app.