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=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,99f33f51845a7793 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-11-17 14:25:53 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!news.mindspring.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: 'withing' problem Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 14:29:51 -0800 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3BF6E4DF.FA47ACDB@adaworks.com> References: <3be27344$0$227$ed9e5944@reading.news.pipex.net> <3BE42900.7590E899@adaworks.com> <3be65f4c$0$237$ed9e5944@reading.news.pipex.net> Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 9e.fc.c4.20 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 17 Nov 2001 22:25:48 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:16656 Date: 2001-11-17T22:25:48+00:00 List-Id: Simon Wright wrote: > Well, "arbitrary" translates roughly to "unpredictable", "surprising" > both of which are definitely bad (I think so, anyway). Actually, all notation begins, at some point, on the basis of arbitrary assumptions. One may construct a system for further reasoning about those assumptions, but even the foundation for that system is rooted in arbitrary assumptions. The UML association shown in an earlier posting illustrates one of the traps in using UML notation in an incomplete way. A class diagram is a static representation of a model. It is only one way of looking at the whole model. One can think of the class diagram as a family portrait where we can identify the relationships between the members of the family, but cannot see the dynamics of those relationships. A more complete model will include the dynamics of those relationships. As soon as we begin to see the sequence diagrams, activity diagrams, and collaboration diagrams, we also can determine where we must adjust our static model. Grady uses the term, "round-trip gestalt process," to emphasize the need to continually refine our model based on what we discover in other views of the model. As much as it pains me to agree with Matthew Heaney [ :-) ] , I have to do so here. The circular dependency in the Patient/Doctor design is a contrivance that fails to reflect A correct design of a medical system. It is reminiscent of the question, "Can God build a wall so high he cannot climb over it?" In the mathematical sense, it is reminiscent of Zeno's paradox. Richard Riehle