The following are two emails from Alan Kay to Stefan Ram in July 2003, clarifying what "object-oriented programming" originally meant to the person who coined the term. Source: http://www.purl.org/stefan_ram/pub/doc_kay_oop_en Email 1 β July 23, 2003 β Subject: Re: Clarification of "object-oriented" Hi Stefan β Sorry for the delay but I was on vacation. At 6:27 PM +0200 7/17/03, Stefan Ram wrote: Dear Dr. Kay, I would like to have some authoritative word on the term "object-oriented programming" for my tutorial page on the subject. The only two sources I consider to be "authoritative" are the International Standards Organization, which defines "object-oriented" in "ISO/IEC 2382-15", and you, because, as they say, you have coined that term. I'm pretty sure I did. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a web page or source with your definition or description of that term.β¦