Re: OOP & Packages in Ada

[mheaney@ni.net (Matthew Heaney)]

In article <EnuAD7.217@syd.csa.com.au>, nospam@thanks.com.au wrote:

>: ... (read Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker, or
>:D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form, or anything by Stephen Jay Gould). 
>
>Better still, read Phillip Johnson's "Darwin on Trial" which refutes both. :)

My point is that systems of any kind evolve, including large software
systems.  The object paradigm facilitates evolution of software systems via
polymorphism: changes don't break existing code.  Let us be reminded of
what John Gall said in Systemantics:

"A complex system that works is invariabley found to have evolved from a
simple system that worked."

and conversely

"A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work."

The latter quote aptly describes many software projects.

Yes, there is some religious dogma that repudiates evolution of living
systems, but I think we can all agree that at a minimum large software
systems evolve, and that you better plan for this evolution to happen.

>Q: What's the definition of a "vestigal" organ?
>A: One whose purpose isn't understood.

How many times have you looked at old code that you know you could do
better now, but don't bother changing it because it's "good enough"? 
That's a vestigal organ, and there's nothing to that isn't "understood"
about its behavior at all.

When you're done with Johnson book (I haven't read it yet), then sit down
and read Evolution and the Myth of Creationism, by Tim M. Berra, and The
Panda's Thumb, by Stephen Jay Gould.

Actually, just last night I picked up Dawkin's first book, The Selfish
Gene.  It's on deck right behind the book I'm reading now, Daniel Dennet's
Consciousness Explained.

No entelechy for me thank you very much, I got systems to build.