8.2 This isn t all about subclassing buttons, is it?

This isn't all about subclassing buttons, is it?

Typically, when one talks about object-oriented programming, he uses the example of a button, a textbox, a label or another visual base class offered by Visual FoxPro. The explanation usually includes some font definition (or definition of another visual property) and how to subclass or change the property globally later on. And those examples are pretty good. In fact, they make it easy to understand the general ideas and they explain a real-life use. After all, inheritance and object-based programming are great for all interface issues. However, this alone would not cause the major development shift toward one technology as object-oriented programming has.

You're thinking there's got to be more and there is! Unfortunately, explaining the bigger picture without skipping a number of steps isn't trivial. That's why this step is one of the most difficult when learning object-oriented application development. Most people understand the general principles. Still, many are not able to construct an entire object-oriented application. In this chapter we'll explore larger objects, see how things come together to form an application, and also learn how to create reusable code.