Computer programming languages play an important role in every aspect ranging from education to almost all services. Programming languages work on pre-defined high-level structural procedures. The technical term given to these structures is “Programming Paradigm”.
Different computer languages use different paradigms. Different paradigms are followed to develop software, games, websites, applications, etc.
Some of the widely used paradigms are procedural paradigm, object-oriented paradigm, functional paradigm, structural paradigm, etc. Object-Oriented Paradigm and Procedure-Oriented Paradigm are the two most used paradigms.
To acquire the accuracy of the result of a program it is important to select the right structure depending on the length of the program.
OOP vs POP
The main difference between Object-Oriented Programming and Procedural-Oriented Programming is that an OOP divides a program into various small objects following a bottom-up approach to arrive at the results of the problem whereas POP divides the complete program into smaller procedures or functions following a top-down approach.
Comparison Table Between OOP and POP (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | Object-Oriented Programming | Procedure-Oriented Programming |
|---|---|---|
| Basic concept followed | Object-oriented programming is based on objects having data in its fields that are termed as Attributes. | Procedure-oriented programming is based on the idea of procedures and functions. |
| Division of program | Pop works by dividing the program into various small objects. | Pop works by dividing the complete program into small procedures. |
| Approach Followed | Oop follow the bottom-up approach. | Pop follows the top-down approach. |
| Access | Access control is supported by access modifiers. | Pop has no access modifiers. |
| Used in | C++, Python, Java. | C, PASCAL, FORTRAN, COBOL, VB, Basic. |
What is OOP?
OOP refers to Object-Oriented Programming, is a programming structure that is based on the concept of “Objects”. Objects are made from data and code. Data is present in the form of fields, these fields are named as properties or attributes where codes are present in the form of procedures, termed as methods.
Objects in OOP have the tendency to access and modify their own data fields. Objects in OOP are independent that means modification in an object is easier. One of the advantages of OOP is that it is more secure structure of programming languages because it provides Data-hiding.
OOPS uses the basic idea of creating objects, reusing them during program execution and using them to obtain results. Objects of OOP follow some of the basic principles namely- Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance and Polymorphism.
In abstraction, only the essential features are represented on the main front and the unnecessary details are put in the background. Encapsulation is a technique to hide data or variables of an object from other objects. Inheritance, as the word represents, is the tendency to gain the qualities of the parent objects on its own. The tendency to take multiple forms in data, objects or procedures is known as Polymorphism.
OOP is used mostly in languages such as C++, Python, Java, etc.
What is POP?
POP stands for Procedure-Oriented Programming. Procedure-Oriented Programming structure divides the complete program into various small groups of instructions known as functions. It is based on the idea of procedures rather than data following a top-down approach.
The functions work as an algorithm and each of these functions has a pre-defined purpose. Thus, in POP, a program is viewed as a sequence of the procedures to be performed step by step. POP works by separating code from data.
In POP, the functions share global data among them that means the data can move from one function to another. But global data makes the modification of a single function difficult and time-consuming. If a single data is to be modified, all other functions also need modification.
Procedure-Oriented Programming structure is less secure because it provides no data hiding. The POP structure is used in VB, COBOL, FORTRAN, Basic, Pascal, etc.
Main Differences Between OOP and POP
- Object-Oriented Programming is based on the concept of dividing a program in objects whereas Procedure-Oriented Programming is based on the concept of dividing a program into smaller procedures and functions.
- Oop follows a Bottom-Up approach to solve problems while Pop makes use of Top-Down approach for problem-solving.
- In OOP, access control is supported by access modifiers but there is no concept of access modifiers in POP.
- OOP is an effective approach for solving large programs while POP is suitable for medium length programs.
- Modification of data in OOP is easier because each object is independent while modification in POP is difficult and time-consuming.
- OOP is used in languages such as C++, Python, Java while POP is used in C, FORTRAN, PASCAL, Basic.
- OOP is more secure programming structure as is has a notion of data-hiding whereas POP is a less secure structure as it does not provide data-hiding.
- OOP can perform several functions together whereas POP is a step-by-step procedure.
- OOP provides data overloading in the form of functions and operators while POP provides no overloading.
- Existing code can be reused in OOP with the property of inheritance while in POP there is no inheritance.
Conclusion
All high-level languages follow certain programming structures to execute programs and arrive at the results. The selection of an effective and appropriate programming structure makes it easier to get the results from programs.
OOP and POP, both are programming structures used for modern programming computer languages. OOP and POP programming structures are widely used. But before using these structures it is important to know about them.
Both programming structures have their advantages and disadvantages. One can take their advantages by selecting the right structure to solve problems.
References
- https://www.forskningsdatabasen.dk/en/catalog/2389307956
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/009605519390022S