Tell me about the principles of object-oriented programming (OOP).

• Encapsulation: Hiding data and functions that operate on this data inside a single object. Access to the data is through the public interface of the class.
• Inheritance: Creating new classes (derived classes) based on existing classes (parents). Derived classes inherit properties and behaviors from the parent classes.
• Polymorphism: The ability to use objects of different classes with a common interface. This allows handling objects of different types in a uniform way.

Also often considered as principles of OOP are:

• Abstraction: Highlighting the essential characteristics of an object, ignoring insignificant details. Creating a simplified representation of a real object.