Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses "objects" to design applications and computer programs. Perl supports OOP, allowing you to create classes, objects, and methods. This module will guide you through the basics of OOP in Perl, including creating classes, instantiating objects, and defining methods.

1. Classes and Objects: A class is a blueprint for creating objects. An object is an instance of a class.
2. Methods: Functions defined within a class that operate on objects.
3. Attributes: Variables that belong to an object.
4. Inheritance: Mechanism by which one class can inherit attributes and methods from another class.

In Perl, a class is simply a package. Let's create a simple class called Animal.

• Package Declaration: package Animal; declares the package name.
• Constructor: sub new is the constructor method. It initializes the object.
  • my $class = shift; gets the class name.
  • my $self = { name => shift, sound => shift }; initializes the object attributes.
  • bless $self, $class; associates the object with the class.
  • return $self; returns the object.
• Methods: get_name and get_sound are methods to access object attributes.

To create an object of the Animal class, you use the new method.

• Object Creation: my $dog = Animal->new("Dog", "Bark"); creates a new Animal object.
• Method Calls: $dog->get_name() and $dog->get_sound() call the respective methods.

Inheritance allows a class to use methods and attributes of another class. Let's create a Dog class that inherits from Animal.

• Inheritance Declaration: use parent 'Animal'; declares that Dog inherits from Animal.
• Constructor: my $self = $class->SUPER::new("Dog", "Bark"); calls the parent class constructor.
• New Method: describe method provides additional functionality specific to Dog.

1. Create a class Cat that inherits from Animal.
2. Add a method describe to the Cat class that returns a string describing the cat.
3. Instantiate an object of the Cat class and call the describe method.

• Cat Class: Cat inherits from Animal and overrides the constructor.
• Describe Method: describe method provides a description of the cat.
• Object Creation: my $cat = Cat->new(); creates a new Cat object.
• Method Call: $cat->describe() calls the describe method.

• Forgetting to bless: Always use bless to associate the object with the class.
• Incorrect Inheritance: Ensure the parent class is correctly specified using use parent.
• Method Calls: Use the arrow operator (->) to call methods on objects.

In this section, you learned the basics of Object-Oriented Programming in Perl, including creating classes, instantiating objects, and using inheritance. These concepts are fundamental for building complex and reusable code. In the next module, we will delve into advanced Perl programming techniques.