C++ Primer Plus, Fourth Edition

Summary

Object-oriented programming emphasizes how a program represents data. The first step toward solving a programming problem by using the OOP approach is describing the data in terms of its interface with the program, specifying how the data is used. Next, design a class that implements the interface. Typically, private data members store the information, whereas public member functions, also called methods, provide the only access to the data. The class combines data and methods into one unit, and the private aspect accomplishes data hiding.

Usually, you separate the class declaration into two parts, typically kept in separate files. The class declaration proper goes into a header file, with the methods represented by function prototypes. ...