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# C++ Classes & Objects C++ adds object-oriented programming to the C language. C++ supports object-oriented program design. Classes are a core feature of C++, often referred to as user-defined types. Classes are used to specify the form of an object. They are a user-defined data type that encapsulates data and functions. The data in a class is called member variables, and the functions are called member functions. A class can be thought of as a template that can be used to create multiple objects with the same properties and behaviors. ## C++ Class Definition To define a class, you use the keyword `class`, followed by the name of the class. The body of the class is enclosed in a pair of curly braces and contains the class's member variables and member functions. Defining a class is essentially defining a blueprint for a data type. It defines what an object of the class contains and what operations can be performed on that object. !(#) In the following example, we use the keyword **class** to define a `Box` data type, which contains three member variables: `length`, `breadth`, and `height`: class Box{public: double length; // Length of the box double breadth; // Breadth of the box double height; // Height of the box}; The keyword **public** determines the access attributes of the class members. Within the scope of a class object, public members are accessible from outside the class. You can also specify class members as **private** or **protected**, which we will discuss later. ## Defining C++ Objects A class provides the blueprint for objects, so basically, objects are created based on a class. Declaring an object of a class is similar to declaring a variable of a basic type. The following statements declare two objects of the class `Box`: Box Box1; // Declare Box1 of type Box Box Box2; // Declare Box2 of type Box Objects `Box1` and `Box2` each have their own data members. ## Accessing Data Members The public data members of a class object can be accessed using the direct member access operator `.`. !(