Re: Need advice re package organization.

["Robert I. Eachus" <rieachus@attbi.com>]

Bobby D. Bryant wrote:

 > Any suggestions, either for my specific example or for more general
 > considerations?

The "right" answer to this question tends to be heuristic.  One package
is probably too few, one (child) package per final type may be too many.

If your (final) object types are going to be composed of component 
types, you almost certainly want one set of packages of components, and 
another of objects.  I would start with that organization, and 
specialize using child packages if there are types that are difficult to 
implement, not generally used, or where collisions between operation 
names are going to cause problems when you have a use clause for the 
main package.

Figuring out the best organization is tough, and often you will discover 
a problem with the hierarchy you have chosen once you start implementing 
it.  Don't worry, go ahead and change it.  That is what text editors are 
for.  You don't need to find the perfect decomposition, just avoid bad 
ones.  And a bad decomposition shows up when it starts making work for 
you, rather than eliminating it.

Of course, whatever organization you choose, you should sketch it out 
first, write the package specs, the main program, and then the package 
bodies.

-- 
                                               Robert I. Eachus

"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure." -- Jacques Chirac,
President of France
"As far as France is concerned, you're right." -- Rush Limbaugh