Introducing Classes
A Class is a blueprint from which one or more Instances of the Class can be created (instances are sometimes also referred to as Objects).
A Class may optionally derive from another Class, which is referred to as its Base Class.
A Class may contain Methods, Properties and Fields (commonly referred to together as Members) which are defined within the body of the class script or are inherited from other Classes. This version of Dyalog APL does not support Events although it is intended that these will be supported in a future release. However, Classes that are derived from .NET types may generate events using 4 ⎕NQ.
A Class that is defined to derive from another Class automatically acquires the set of Properties, Methods and Fields that are defined by its Base Class. This mechanism is described as inheritance.
A Class may extend the functionality of its Base Class by adding new Properties, Methods and Fields or by substituting those in the Base Class by providing new versions with the same names as those in the Base Class.
Members may be defined to be Private or Public. A Public member may be used or accessed from outside the Class or an Instance of the Class. A Private member is internal to the Class and (in general) may not be referenced from outside.
Although Classes are generally used as blueprints for the creation of instances, a class can have Shared members which can be used without first creating an instance.
Class Names
Class names must adhere to the general rules for naming APL objects, and in addition should not conflict with the name of a .NET Type that is defined in any of the .NET Namespaces on the search path specified by ⎕USING.