From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: ** X-Spam-Status: No, score=2.1 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_40,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: fac41,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gidfac41,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: 11cae8,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid11cae8,public X-Google-Thread: f43e6,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gidf43e6,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1108a1,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid1108a1,public X-Google-Thread: 114809,b87849933931bc93 X-Google-Attributes: gid114809,public From: Bill Gooch Subject: Re: What is wrong with OO ? Date: 1996/12/20 Message-ID: <32BAB06C.7670@iconcomp.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 205107997 references: <32A4659D.347A@shef.ac.uk> <32A71BC6.2D857063@arscorp.com> x-rtcode: 59e63eeb326b56bd3dbaae69 content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: Icon Computing mime-version: 1.0 reply-to: bill@iconcomp.com newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.eiffel,comp.lang.ada,comp.lnag.java,comp.object,comp.software-eng x-mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (WinNT; I) Date: 1996-12-20T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Jon S Anthony wrote: > > Give me a single picture > that conveys the total information caught by "mountain". Easy - I have lots of mountain pictures. Any one will do. > Hmmmm, do you really think any attempt you try to provide for my first > question will be any where near as light weight as "mountain"??????? The word "mountain" *by itself* conveys nothing whatsoever. Its meaning is known via a learned association, which is not inherent in the word itself. It could just as well mean "a small furry animal with a pink nose," if we chose to use it that way. A picture of a mountain, OTOH, needs no definition, and carries a lot more than just the generic concept "mountain" with it - it shows the specific shape and character of a particular mountain, i.e. it has a much more refined meaning than the word, or quite a large verbal description, for that matter. Try to describe the geometry and terrain detail shown in the picture verbally, and it will no doubt take quite a few thousand words. None of this has much bearing on the use of diagrammatic object models for OO analysis and design, however. Those models are of abstractions, and have no "natural" interpretation by themselves. Like words, their meanings must be defined. Still, a few graphic symbols put together can often carry the same meaning as quite a few words. IME, both the diagrams and the words that describe them (especially in terms of object dynamics, which are very hard to show using static graphics) can be very helpful. -- William D. Gooch bill@iconcomp.com Icon Computing http://www.iconcomp.com Texas liaison for the International Programmers Guild For IPG info, see http://www.ipgnet.com/ipghome.htm