Summary
This chapter has taken you on a whirlwind tour through terminology and concepts that fall under the umbrella of object-oriented programming. A full discourse on the subject would require several chapters and would, therefore, take away from the focus of this book. However, a firm grasp of object-oriented fundamentals is imperative to getting the most out of the C# language.
We covered quite a few ideas in this chapter. Key to understanding object-oriented systems is knowing the difference between classes, objects, and interfaces and how these concepts relate to effective solutions. Good object-oriented solutions also depend on a sound implementation of the three tenets of object-oriented programming: encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. The concepts presented in this chapter lay the groundwork for the next chapter, which introduces the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Common Language Runtime.