K-object

class definition and/or instance

• An object can mean either the class definition (k-class pattern), or an instance (k-instance, copy, specimen of a certain pattern).
• The idea behind the concept of an object is that the object is encapsulated, i.e. it can in many cases be treated as a whole by users (and computers) without having to know its internal structure. This is a great simplification, i.e. it makes the real complexity (where substructures of the entity are linked to substructures of other entities) invisible, leading on the one hand to an acceptable performance in computations, but on the other hand also to the danger that users take over this simplification (and in effect the computers determine what they do); this danger must be faced with providing highest clarity about what is visible and invisble.
• Some k-objects are special.