Object vs. Class — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on September 21, 2023
Object is an instance of a Class; Class is a blueprint for creating Objects. The relationship between Object and Class is akin to a product and its blueprint.
Difference Between Object and Class
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Object and Class are fundamental concepts in object-oriented programming. An Object represents a single instance of a data structure defined by its Class. The Class, in contrast, defines the structure, behaviors, and attributes that its Objects will have, but isn't an instance itself.
While an Object can be thought of as a tangible entity, a Class is more abstract, outlining the possible states and behaviors available to its Objects.
Objects are created from Classes; you can have many Objects of a single Class.
Comparison Chart
Definition
An instance of a Class.
Blueprint or prototype from which Objects are created.
Existence
Tangible representation in memory.
Conceptual or logical representation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Modification
Changing an Object doesn't affect other Objects.
Changes in Class affect all its Objects (if they aren't already instantiated).
Example
A specific car with a particular color, brand, and number plate.
General idea of what a car is, with attributes like color and brand.
Number
Multiple Objects can be created from a Class.
Typically, one Class for a particular concept or entity.
Compare with Definitions
Object
Represents real-world entities in code.
The Object 'apple' belongs to the 'fruit' category.
Class
Defines attributes and methods for Objects.
The 'Animal' Class can have attributes like 'species' and 'age'.
Object
A distinct memory location in computing.
Each Object of a Class occupies a separate space in memory.
Class
Represents a concept or entity in code.
The 'Database' Class handles all database-related functions.
Object
Can be acted upon and can initiate actions in software.
The Object 'button1' triggered the 'submit' function.
Class
Can be extended or inherited in object-oriented programming.
The 'Mammal' Class can be a subclass of the broader 'Animal' Class.
Object
A material thing that can be seen and touched
Small objects such as shells
He was dragging a large object
Class
A set, collection, group, or configuration containing members regarded as having certain attributes or traits in common; a kind or category.
Object
A person or thing to which a specified action or feeling is directed
Disease became the object of investigation
He hated being the object of public attention
Class
A grade of mail
A package sent third class.
Object
A noun or noun phrase governed by an active transitive verb or by a preposition
In Gaelic the word order is verb, subject, object
Class
A quality of accommodation on public transport
Tourist class.
Object
A data construct that provides a description of anything known to a computer (such as a processor or a piece of code) and defines its method of operation
The interface treats most items, including cells, graphs, and buttons, as objects
Class
A social stratum whose members share certain economic, social, or cultural characteristics
The lower-income classes.
Object
Say something to express one's opposition to or disagreement with something
‘It doesn't seem natural,’ she objected
The boy's father objected that the police had arrested him unlawfully
Residents object to the volume of traffic
Class
Social rank or caste, especially high rank.
Object
A specific, individual, material entity, especially one that is not living or not sentient.
Class
(Informal)Elegance of style, taste, and manner
An actor with class.
Object
A focus of attention, feeling, thought, or action
A product that was so bad it became an object of derision.
Class
A group of students who are taught together, usually at a regularly scheduled time and in the same subject.
Object
A limiting factor that must be considered
Since money is no object, let's eat at that fancy place.
Class
The period during which such a group meets
Had to stay after class.
Object
The purpose, aim, or goal of a specific action or effort
The object of the game.
Class
The subject material taught to or studied by such a group
Found the math class challenging.
Object
A noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that receives or is affected by the action of a verb within a sentence.
Class
A group of students or alumni who have the same year of graduation.
Object
A noun or substantive governed by a preposition and typically following it.
Class
(Biology)A taxonomic category ranking below a phylum or division and above an order.
Object
(Philosophy) Something intelligible to or perceptible by the mind.
Class
(Statistics)An interval in a frequency distribution.
Object
A discrete item than can be selected and maneuvered, such as an onscreen graphic.
Class
(Linguistics)A group of words belonging to the same grammatical category that share a particular set of morphological properties, such as a set of inflections.
Object
In object-oriented programming, a structure that combines data and the procedures necessary to operate on that data.
Class
(Mathematics)A collection of sets whose members share a specified property.
Object
To present a dissenting or opposing argument; raise an objection
Objected to the testimony of the witness.
Class
To arrange, group, or rate according to qualities or characteristics; assign to a class; classify.
Object
To be averse to or express disapproval of something
Objects to modern materialism.
Class
(countable) A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.
The new Ford Fiesta is set to be best in the 'small family' class.
That is one class-A heifer you got there, sonny.
Often used to imply membership of a large class.
This word has a whole class of metaphoric extensions.
Object
To put forward in or as a reason for opposition; offer as criticism
They objected that discipline was lacking.
Class
A social grouping, based on job, wealth, etc. In Britain, society is commonly split into three main classes: upper class, middle class and working class.
Object
A thing that has physical existence but is not alive.
Class
(uncountable) The division of society into classes.
Jane Austen's works deal with class in 18th-century England.
Object
; goal, end or purpose of something.
Class
(uncountable) Admirable behavior; elegance.
Apologizing for losing your temper, even though you were badly provoked, showed real class.
Object
(grammar) The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.
Class
A group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher.
The class was noisy, but the teacher was able to get their attention with a story.
Object
A person or thing toward which an emotion is directed.
Mary Jane had been the object of Peter's affection for years.
The convertible, once the object of his desire, was now the object of his hatred.
Where's your object of ridicule now?
Class
A series of lessons covering a single subject.
I took the cooking class for enjoyment, but I also learned a lot.
Object
(object-oriented programming) An instantiation of a class or structure.
Class
(countable) A group of students who commenced or completed their education during a particular year. A school class.
The class of 1982 was particularly noteworthy.
Object
(category theory) An instance of one of the two kinds of entities that form a category, the other kind being the arrows (also called morphisms).
Similarly, there is a category whose objects are groups and whose arrows are the homomorphisms from one group to another.
Class
(countable) A category of seats in an airplane, train or other means of mass transportation.
I used to fly business class, but now my company can only afford economy.
Object
(obsolete) Sight; show; appearance; aspect.
Class
A rank in the classification of organisms, below phylum and above order; a taxon of that rank.
Magnolias belong to the class Magnoliopsida.
Object
(intransitive) To disagree with or oppose something or someone; (especially in a Court of Law) to raise an objection.
I object to the proposal to build a new airport terminal.
We strongly object to sending her to jail for ten years.
Class
Best of its kind.
It is the class of Italian bottled waters.
Object
To offer in opposition as a criminal charge or by way of accusation or reproach; to adduce as an objection or adverse reason.
Class
(statistics) A grouping of data values in an interval, often used for computation of a frequency distribution.
Object
To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to oppose.
Class
(set theory) A collection of sets definable by a shared property.
The class of all sets is not a set.
Every set is a class, but classes are not generally sets. A class that is not a set is called a proper class.
Object
To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to oppose.
Of less account some knight thereto object,Whose loss so great and harmful can not prove.
Some strong impediment or other objecting itself.
Pallas to their eyesThe mist objected, and condensed the skies.
Class
(military) A group of people subject to be conscripted in the same military draft, or more narrowly those persons actually conscripted in a particular draft.
Object
To offer in opposition as a criminal charge or by way of accusation or reproach; to adduce as an objection or adverse reason.
He gave to him to object his heinous crime.
Others object the poverty of the nation.
The book . . . giveth liberty to object any crime against such as are to be ordered.
Class
A set of objects having the same behavior (but typically differing in state), or a template defining such a set in terms of its common properties, functions, etc.
An abstract base class
Object
To make opposition in words or argument; to express one's displeasure; - usually followed by to; as, she objected to his vulgar language.
Class
One of the sections into which a Methodist church or congregation is divided, supervised by a class leader.
Object
That which is put, or which may be regarded as put, in the way of some of the senses; something visible or tangible and persists for an appreciable time; as, he observed an object in the distance; all the objects in sight; he touched a strange object in the dark.
Class
(transitive) To assign to a class; to classify.
I would class this with most of the other mediocre works of the period.
Object
Anything which is set, or which may be regarded as set, before the mind so as to be apprehended or known; that of which the mind by any of its activities takes cognizance, whether a thing external in space or a conception formed by the mind itself; as, an object of knowledge, wonder, fear, thought, study, etc.
Object is a term for that about which the knowing subject is conversant; what the schoolmen have styled the "materia circa quam."
The object of their bitterest hatred.
Class
(intransitive) To be grouped or classed.
Object
That toward which the mind, or any of its activities, is directed; that on which the purpose are fixed as the end of action or effort; that which is sought for; goal; end; aim; motive; final cause.
Object, beside its proper signification, came to be abusively applied to denote motive, end, final cause . . . . This innovation was probably borrowed from the French.
Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
Class
(transitive) To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.
Object
Sight; show; appearance; aspect.
He, advancing closeUp to the lake, past all the rest, aroseIn glorious object.
Class
Great; fabulous
Object
A word, phrase, or clause toward which an action is directed, or is considered to be directed; as, the object of a transitive verb.
Class
A group of individuals ranked together as possessing common characteristics; as, the different classes of society; the educated class; the lower classes.
Object
Any set of data that is or can be manipulated or referenced by a computer program as a single entity; - the term may be used broadly, to include files, images (such as icons on the screen), or small data structures.
Class
A number of students in a school or college, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies.
Object
Anything which exists and which has attributes; distinguished from attributes, processes, and relations.
Class
A comprehensive division of animate or inanimate objects, grouped together on account of their common characteristics, in any classification in natural science, and subdivided into orders, families, tribes, genera, etc.
Object
Opposed; presented in opposition; also, exposed.
Class
A set; a kind or description, species or variety.
She had lost one class energies.
Object
A tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow;
It was full of rackets, balls and other objects
Class
One of the sections into which a church or congregation is divided, and which is under the supervision of a class leader.
Object
The goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable);
The sole object of her trip was to see her children
Class
One session of formal instruction in which one or more teachers instruct a group on some subject. The class may be one of a course of classes, or a single special session.
Object
(grammar) a constituent that is acted upon;
The object of the verb
Class
A high degree of elegance, in dress or behavior; the quality of bearing oneself with dignity, grace, and social adeptness.
Object
The focus of cognitions or feelings;
Objects of thought
The object of my affection
Class
To arrange in classes; to classify or refer to some class; as, to class words or passages.
Object
Express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent;
She never objected to the amount of work her boss charged her with
When asked to drive the truck, she objected that she did not have a driver's license
Class
To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.
Object
Be averse to or express disapproval of;
My wife objects to modern furniture
Class
To be grouped or classed.
The genus or family under which it classes.
Object
A tangible instance of a Class in programming.
The Object 'dog1' has the color 'brown'.
Class
Exhibiting refinement and high character; as, a class act. Opposite of low-class
Object
Contains both state and behavior.
The Object 'car' has a 'speed' attribute and a 'drive' method.
Class
People having the same social or economic status;
The working class
An emerging professional class
Class
A body of students who are taught together;
Early morning classes are always sleepy
Class
Education imparted in a series of lessons or class meetings;
He took a course in basket weaving
Flirting is not unknown in college classes
Class
A collection of things sharing a common attribute;
There are two classes of detergents
Class
A body of students who graduate together;
The class of '97
She was in my year at Hoehandle High
Class
A league ranked by quality;
He played baseball in class D for two years
Princeton is in the NCAA Division 1-AA
Class
Elegance in dress or behavior;
She has a lot of class
Class
(biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders
Class
Arrange or order by classes or categories;
How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?
Class
A blueprint for creating Objects in programming.
From the 'Vehicle' Class, we can create multiple car and bike Objects.
Class
Abstracts common properties and actions for a type.
The 'User' Class abstracts attributes like 'username' and 'password'.
Common Curiosities
What does a Class represent?
A Class is a blueprint that defines attributes and methods for Objects.
Can we create multiple Objects from one Class?
Yes, one Class can be used to instantiate multiple Objects.
What is an Object in programming?
An Object is an instance of a Class, representing real-world entities with attributes and behaviors.
Do changes in an Object affect its Class?
No, changes in an Object don't impact its originating Class.
What's the relationship between Object and Class?
Object is an instantiation of a Class; the Class provides the structure, and the Object is a tangible instance of that structure.
Can Classes inherit properties from other Classes?
Yes, in object-oriented programming, one Class can inherit properties and methods from another Class.
Is every Object tied to a Class?
Yes, every Object is an instance of a particular Class.
What does it mean to instantiate a Class?
To instantiate a Class means to create an Object based on the Class's blueprint.
Can an Object exist without a Class?
No, in object-oriented programming, an Object is always an instance of a Class.
What determines the behavior of an Object?
The behavior of an Object is determined by the methods defined in its Class.
Can one Object belong to multiple Classes?
Typically, an Object belongs to one Class. However, languages with multiple inheritance or mixins allow objects to inherit attributes from multiple sources.
Why is a Class considered abstract?
A Class is considered abstract because it defines a concept or structure but doesn't represent a tangible instance itself.
Can Classes have relationships with other Classes?
Yes, Classes can have relationships like inheritance, association, and aggregation with other Classes.
Can a Class contain multiple types of Objects?
No, a Class defines a specific type of Object. However, subclasses can extend a parent Class to differentiate types.
Does every Class represent a tangible entity?
Not necessarily. While many Classes represent tangible entities, some can represent abstract concepts or functionalities.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Slide vs. Swipe
Next Comparison
Memory vs. RecollectionAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
