| andrewmcdonagh 2007-02-09, 7:55 am |
| On Feb 8, 10:56 pm, "Pete Dashwood"
<dashw...@removethis.enternet.co.nz> wrote:
> "andrewmcdonagh" <andrewmcdon...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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> news:1170954277.185118.185740@q2g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
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> I can't tell you what a relief it was to read these articles :-)
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> For some time now I have been trying to explain that an OO approach removes
> the need for source code maintenance in the traditional sense. Classes and
> methods should be encapsulated and "do what they do". When change is
> required it should be new interfaces or extensions and NOT an internal
> change to already working code. Apart from the obvious benefit of NOT
> requiring regression testing, this approach also simplifies maintaining
> applications. I came to learn this by working with COM component development
> over a number of years.
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> Most people here, coming from a procedural background where the whole point
> of good coding practice is to ensure that source code is easily maintained,
> and one of the reasons for using COBOL in the first place is its
> "self-documenting" nature, simply thought I was crazy.
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> Write applications then don't change the code? Impossible!
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> Of course, it isn't impossible and I've been doing it for some years now. I
> see it as one of the most compelling arguments for using OO.
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> After a number of clumsy attempts to explain myself, I simply gave up...
> It's like trying to explain the concept of "red" to a person who has been
> blind since birth...
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> I have never studied the computer science covered in these articles, but
> arrived at the same conclusions just by empirical practice.
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> This is the first tme I have seen some of the things I know innately,
> expressed in a tangible and easily assimilable form. OK, there is a heap of
> new jargon and acronyms, but the pure light of the underlying principles
> shines through like a beacon.
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> I strongly recommend any COBOL programmer who is labouring under the burden
> of heavy regression testing to at least browse the first article. (I
> especially liked his description of "software rot" and what causes it :-))
> Here is a direct link:
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> http://www.objectmentor.com/resourc..._and_Pattern...
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> Pete.
Oh, BTW, this is an extract from Bobs excellent book Agile software
development http://www.amazon.co.uk/Software-De...ent-Principles-
Patterns-Practices/dp/0135974445/sr=8-14/qid=1171021059/
ref=sr_1_14/202-5327192-4527047?ie=UTF8&s=books
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