An object-based language is a programming language that provides a construct to encapsulate state and behavior as an object. A language that also supports inheritance or subtyping is classified as object-oriented.[1] Even though object-oriented seems like a superset of object-based, they are used as mutually exclusive alternatives, rather than overlapping.[citation needed] Examples of strictly object-based languages – supporting an object feature but not inheritance or subtyping – are early versions of Ada[2], Visual Basic 6 (VB6), and Fortran 90.
Some classify prototype-based programming as object-based even though it supports inheritance and subtyping albeit not via a class concept. Instead an object inherits its state and behavior from a template object. A commonly used language with prototype-based programming support is JavaScript;
Ada 83 itself is generally not considered to be object-oriented; rather, according to the terminology of Wegner [Weg 87], it is said to be object-based, since it provides only a restricted form of inheritance and it lacks polymorphism.