Re: Pre-Ada95 books still worth reading

[Brian Drummond <brian@shapes.demon.co.uk>]

On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:34:01 +0200, Georg Bauhaus wrote:

> On 19.07.12 20:46, Simon Wright wrote:
>> Brian Drummond <brian@shapes.demon.co.uk> writes:
>>
>>> One not mentioned so far is Grady Booch and Doug Bryan : Software
>>> Engineering with Ada. I don't know how well it is regarded now, but I
>>> thought it was good when I read it. Given the Booch Components are
>>> still around, it may be worth considering.
>>
>> The book discusses the Original Booch Components, at
>> http://www.adapower.com/original_booch/, not the Ada 95 components at
>> https://sourceforge.net/projects/booch95/.
>>
>>
> I think there are two different books here, the first by Booch and
> Bryan,
> Software Engineering with Ada (1994 (3rd ed.) and earlier);
> the second by Booch: Software Components with Ada (1987).
> 
> There is one recurring pattern in the first book, maybe worth
> mentioning:
> 
>   * Identify the objects 
>   * Identify the operations 
>   * Establish the visibility 
>   * Establish the interface
> (* Evaluate the objects )
>   * Implement each object
> 
> The authors explain these steps in an introductory section titled "An
> Object-Oriented Design Method".

Thanks Georg,
I was unaware of the second book, but thought the first would be a good 
exposition of the thought process behind them.

The design method he describes has a distinctly ... dated, or perhaps 
classical? feel in these days of "extreme programming" and "test driven 
development". 

Is it still relevant, outside of areas that can afford the full weight of 
formal methods because they *have* to be right?

I believe both ends of the spectrum have their place. "Write only what 
you need to", "compile and test early and often" are appropriate where 
you really don't know what you are doing - perhaps the customer doesn't 
either, or the hardware you are driving is poorly documented.

But where much of the job is clear, I try to follow the basic approach 
here.

- Brian