Object-oriented programs in realtime

The purpose of this article is to set forth an analysis of the object-oriented (OO) approach and its consequences in realtime applications, cautioning readers about some major pitfalls. This article is both tutorial and analytic, and attempts to find a middle ground between uncritical acceptance and unreasoning rejection. Fads seem to sweep the software world every eight years or so. The latest, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), has much old wine in new bottles. However, there are things of real value in the OO approach, with practical applications in realtime. Naturally, some care is required. The ideas of the OO approach themselves have little effect on performance, which as always is dominated by implementation decisions, which are in turn driven by the intended use and market niche of the particular implementation.