Throughout its history, object-oriented programming (OOP) has undergone significant evolution. From its early concepts to becoming one of the most popular and widely used methodologies in the computer industry.
We couldn’t do a course on object-oriented programming without at least briefly looking at its history. As well as acknowledging the people involved in its development.
Origins of Object-Oriented Programming
1960s
The first concepts related to object-oriented programming began to emerge in the 1960s with the creation of the Simula language.
Developed by Ole-Johan Dahl and Kristen Nygaard at the Norwegian Computing Center (Norsk Regnesentral), Simula was originally created for performing simulations.
Simula 67 was the version of Simula that introduced concepts such as classes, objects, and inheritance. Although it was not known by the name “object-oriented” at that time, these fundamental concepts laid the groundwork for future developments.
1970s
In the 1970s, Alan Kay, a researcher at Xerox PARC, coined the term “object-oriented” to describe a programming approach based on the simulation of biological systems. Kay developed the Smalltalk programming language, which became a significant influence on the later development of object-oriented programming.
Smalltalk was the first programming language to fully implement the object-oriented paradigm as we know it today. Smalltalk introduced a series of revolutionary ideas, including message sending between objects, encapsulation, and dynamic inheritance.
Evolution and Popularization
1980s
The 1980s witnessed the growth and popularization of object-oriented programming. Bjarne Stroustrup at AT&T Bell Labs developed C++, a language that evolved from C with the addition of object-oriented features.
C++ incorporated classes and objects, as well as constructors, destructors, and operator overloading. Its compatibility with C and its ability to handle both low-level and high-level programming made C++ a popular language in the software industry.
In the same decade, Brad Cox and Tom Love developed Objective-C, combining the object-oriented capabilities of Smalltalk with the C programming language. Objective-C became the main language for software development on Apple platforms for many years.
Many other languages went on to adopt the object-oriented programming paradigm. For example, Ada, initially developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, also incorporated object-oriented features in its 1995 revision (Ada 95).
1990s
In the 1990s, Java became one of the most influential programming languages in the realm of object-oriented programming. Developed by Sun Microsystems (now part of Oracle) and designed by James Gosling and his team, Java combined the syntax of C++ with an object-oriented architecture.
From the same era emerged Python, a language that has currently gained significant popularity, created by Guido van Rossum. Although it was not originally designed as a pure object-oriented programming language, it did include the concept from its earliest versions. Over time, it has evolved to enhance OOP support, adapted to its own needs.
Modernity
2000s
C# (❤️), developed by Microsoft as part of its .NET platform, was released in the early 2000s. Influenced by C++ and, very strongly by JavaScript, C# has been adopted as the main language for development on the .NET platform, including desktop, web, and mobile applications.
2010s and Beyond
JavaScript, initially developed in the mid-1990s by Brendan Eich at Netscape, has rapidly evolved to incorporate object-oriented capabilities.
With the introduction of ES6 (ECMAScript 2015), JavaScript became much more object-oriented, with support for classes and inheritance, increasing its use in frontend and backend web development.
Present and Future
As of today, Object-Oriented Programming remains the most important paradigm in software development. Its ability to model real-world concepts and its focus on code reuse remains unassailable.
However, OOP is in constant evolution. This must be the case, as needs and technologies also change. In programming, there are no “written rules” or absolute truths. We learn the best path as we go.
Thus, aspects such as the best architecture for complex applications can be debated. Some traditional design patterns have fallen out of favor in favor of more modern and flexible approaches.
On the other hand, various programming languages such as Go, Rust, or Dart are constantly emerging and/or gaining popularity. These languages often adopt innovative approaches that challenge established conventions, leading to the exploration of new ways to apply the object-oriented paradigm.
Despite these changes, and this need for continuous adaptation and integration of new ideas and technologies, what you can be sure of is that in the future OOP will continue to be the fundamental paradigm of software development for many years to come.