Re: Interresting thread in comp.lang.eiffel

["Bob Allen" <ballen3@email.msn.com>]

David K Allen <dkallen@visi.com> wrote in message
news:qe_a5.259$6E.64803@ptah.visi.com...
> Riddle:
>     When is a contract not a contract?
> Answer:
>     When they are two different words representing different concepts but
> spelled and/or sounding the same (homonyms).
> -----------------------------------------
> "Ken Garlington" wrote in separate posts
>
> > Wouldn't both sides have to agree to this contract for it to be legally
> > valid?
>
> > You understand, of course, that standard contracts are in fact
negotiated?
>

You are correct that both sides have to agree to the terms of the contract
for it to be legally valid,
but not all contracts are negotiated, some are take it or leave it.

When first developing a set of classes, you negotiate with the people on
your team, and yourself
to formulate the contract. Then when you publish your terms the people who
may be interested
in using your classes know where they stand.

When you go to X-Mart and see an item that you like, you enter into a
contract with X-Mart where
if you give X-Mart a predetermined amount of money, X-Mart will in turn give
you the item you like.
Most of the time it is a take it or leave it contract, but it is still a
contract. If you do not like the terms
of the contract you can go to Y-Mart and see if they have a better deal. You
expect X-Mart and Y-Mart
to have the items priced so that you know the terms of the contract before
you try and execute it.

The same applies when you go to build a system based in part or in whole of
existing components.
You look at the contract that the components offer and decide if the terms
are acceptable.
If not find a different component. If the component did not tell you its
costs and the benefits how could
you determine if it is what you want. It would be an unmarked grab bag. You
would not know what you
are getting nor what it costs, without having to look inside the bag and
asking a sales person for a price
check.  Both of these activities are time consumming.

Bob Allen
Bob's Weekend Wonders
Training and Consulting
Land O Lakes, FL