Advantages of classes

[agibsonsw]

Hello. Visual Basic 6 and Excel.

I understand the benefits of Object Oriented Programming in terms of modelling a complex system
and the use of encapsulation to allow several programmers to re-use classes/ objects without concern
for the internal workings of these.

Someone has a monte carlo model in VB6 which manipulates data from an Excel workbook and does make
use of classes. The code for this model prints to around 80-100 pages. I haven't been able to study the code
yet but have been asked to discuss the benefits of creating classes.

I think this is, in reality, quite a small model. What might you advise? Can there be benefits in using classes
for such a (what I believe to be) small model?

I understand it might be tricky to comment without further details, but would appreciate general comments
at this stage.

Andy.

[Jan Karel Pieterse]

Duh, just wrote a nice elaborate reply and then after I hit submit, the connection went haywire.
Teaches you to hit controlA, controlC before clikcing submit.

I like classes because they can hide complexity. Your code in the main program flow (the business logic part) becomes easier to understand.

I like this article about OOP in VB6:
http://www.visualbasicbooks.com/progVB6samplepg1.html

[StuartR]

...I like classes because they can hide complexity...

I like classes because they can simplify testing.

You can test all the classes using a wide range of inputs and outputs without needing the complete application.

[agibsonsw]

Thank you for these responses (and the link). Andy.