Re: Interesting but sensitive topic to discuss (HELP: - OOP and CASE tools)

[Anthony Menio <menio@pegasus.montclair.edu>]

On 11 Nov 1996, David N. Smith wrote:
 
> The design of a program should be an integral part of the design of the
> implementation of a program which should be an integral part of the
> coding of a program. This does not mean there is so separation between
> the parts. Car companies still have designers, design engineers,
> manufacturing engineers, and assemblers. These people with different
> points of view need to work together as partners, with the designer
> cognizant of enough of the details of the target language not to get in
> too much trouble, and the ultimate programmer cognizant of enough of the
> high-level design to understand where it all is going.
> 
> Failing to consider the language at design time can leave issues open
> that need to be closed. If the designer has learned 'object design' but
> has never programmed an object, a condition I fear happens all to often,
> is the design suitable for implementation and maintenance in any language?
> 
> Please note that I am not saying that it is impossible to implement
> designs thrown over the wall from a designer who doesn't consider
> language. I am suggesting that such designs can lead to very poor
> programs. Since programs are the ultimate product of the whole process,
> and it is the program that will be used, lived with, maintained, or
> thrown away, it is the program that matters, not the original design. To
> the extent that a programmer had to perform heroics to fit a design to a
> language, the design has failed and the resulting product is the poorer
> for it.
> 
> Dave
 
 
System development is really just model building, the
deliverable of each subprocess of the design process
is simply a model, a description of the system, which the
next subprocess takes as it input. Thus these models
should be seemless, the next can be built from the
previous while maintaining as much consistancy as possible.
The whole point of design model is to turn the analysis
model into descriptions of the classes of objects identified
in light of the given implementation environment as the
next phase in the development process is implementation. Thus
design must consider the language used, operating system
and performance considerations of the environment. However
analysis does not, it assumes an ideal environment so its
possible to developed this model in a totally language
independent manor as you are only concerned with the
objects in the system and the behavoiral relations
between them. This is obviously an iterative process
as well as one where there can be reverse flow. I
think this is in agreement with engineering practice
and industrialization process in other industries. This
as it should be as the key of OO is the ability to
reuse the engineering principles applied to physical
systems, as we wish software systems to have
the same attributes we expect of real world systems.

Anthony Menio
I.S. Student
menio@pegasus.montclair.edu

	Your power is your ideas, your ideas are products of
	perception, your perception is the product of your
	architecture, architecture is everything - me