Iwan Vosloo - What's the point of Object Orientation? This talk covers the basics of what Object Orientation (OO) is really about. It focusses on the problem OO is aimed at solving and shows where the OO mechanisms of Python fit into this picture. This material can serve as an introduction to OO for beginners, but also as a homing signal for experienced programmers who are doubting whether they are reaping the benefits OO promises. ----- Object Orientation (OO) is often introduced in terms of how it is implemented by a specific language. However, understanding the theory underlying OO is not quite the same as understanding how OO concepts are supported by a particular language. It is insightful to understand the simple OO fundamentals and how these map to the particular implementation provided by Python. In this talk I will first explain the very basics of OO from a language-neutral point of view with the aim of showing what OO can offer you and to give a glimpse of the simple mathematical theory underlying OO. I hope to give you enough information to help you distinguish between better and worse designs and to detect whether you’re using OO as it was intended. I will also very briefly show how these fundamentals map to Python. This talk is for anyone: whether you’re new at Object Orientation, or a practitioner wondering whether OO is worth the effort you’ve spent trying to use it.