oop - What is the difference between classes and object instances?

Question

A class is a binding of methods and variables in a single unit.
An object is an instance of a class.

These are definitions for classes and objects in programming books. My friend said that a class is a blueprint of an object. An object is a real "thing" of a blueprint. He has given an example: if Company is a class, INFOSYS, CTS, and TCS etc are objects. Whenever I think about classes and objects, these definitions confuse me. If channel is a class, what would be objects for the class? If water is a class, what would be objects of class? Can you clarify?

Answer 1

If channel is a class, Start Sports, BBC, and ESPN are its objects. If water is a Class, "Fresh Lime Water" and "Soup" are its objects.

Although you might find this explanation vague, this is the answer that I could think of.

Here is how you can learn about and distinguish classes:

Say you have a class "CAR"

Its objects are Hyundai, Ford, Suzuki. It will have the same methods but different designs -> this is how you can relate objects and classes with the real world.