System Analyst Practice Exam 2025 - Free System Analyst Practice Questions and Study Guide

In object-oriented design, processes that can change an object's properties are referred to as methods. Methods are a fundamental aspect of object-oriented programming (OOP) because they define the behaviors or operations that can be performed on an object, which may include modifying its attributes.

Methods are typically associated with a particular class, and when an object is instantiated from that class, it can utilize those methods to interact with its properties effectively. For example, consider a class called "Car": it might have attributes such as "color" and "speed." The methods of the "Car" class could include functions like "accelerate" or "paint," which would directly manipulate the car's properties.

Attributes, on the other hand, represent the data stored within an object but do not enact any operations. Functions can be a broader term that includes any reusable piece of code, whereas classes are templates for creating objects and don’t perform actions by themselves. Therefore, methods are the specific built-in processes within object-oriented design that facilitate the mutation of an object's attributes.