Question

what is the difference between object and instance in object oriented programming?

Answer 1

An instance is an object created with a class.

So basically instance and object are the same.

Answer 2

um they r same?!

Answer 3

@NeThWa wrong!

An instance is a copy of your object which is created on demand in runtime. Object itself is the class you defined which holds variables and methods. That's the power of the oop, you can have many instances of a single object at the same time.

Answer 4

um i thot that class is a blue print/template for an object.......
object nd class r the same?

Answer 5

When you create a class, you're defining an object.
When you use that class in your program, you're creating an instance of the object.
Consider instance as a copy of your object living in your memory and getting deleted once the program is closed.
Object can refer to instance but in general, it's referring to the class itself.
We create a new "instance" of the object/class. we don't create a new "Object" of the class.

To sum it up, when you create an object by calling its constructor, the object reference that is returned is called an instance.

Answer 6

I dont know if my explanation makes any sense to you but that's what it is

Answer 7

well it's sorta confusing

Answer 8

When you create an object (for example public car myCar = new car();), you receive a reference to it(myCar) which is called an instance of the object (car).
You can have multiple instances of a single object and each of them holding different values.

Answer 9

so ur car and some x's car are instances of object car......nd wat's the class here?

Answer 10

class = object = car

Answer 11

i was reading this stantement in some file
"differentiate the notion of an object from that of a class. The easiest way to understand
the distinction is to think about a class as a pattern or template for objects that share a
common behavior and collection of state attributes."

Answer 12

Well there aren't any strict rules about calling what a class and what an object so that text is true. I remember when I read my first C++ book it said class and object is the same.

Answer 13

um ok.....thanks anywayz....@c0rtez and @NeThWa

Answer 14

@c0rtez
I've learned that it's basically the same^^
Might be, that you've learned something else, i also heard definitions of instances as the objects within the object (e.g. the x- and y-coordinates in the class point are the instance of the object created with the class) but that sounds really wrong to me^^