Re: Polymorphism Downsides

topmind wrote:
vermeeca@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
You know, the beauty of these newsgroups is that anybody can jump in on
any conversation going on here and say something that's blindingly
obvious to everyone else. I think may be what I'm about to do.

Like I said elsewhere, the Design Patterns books is geared toward
systems software. It's lessons so far appear not applicable to other
domains, such as custom business software. I do not question OO's
abilities for systems software, but that is not my domain.
*snip*

If they "abound", where are they?
If you're looking for examples of GOF patterns in business software,
have you checked out Craig Larman's book?

http://www.amazon.com/Applying-UML-Patterns-Introduction-Object-Oriented/dp/0130925691

If I remember correctly, he builds up a POS system design from the
ground up in the book using many of the GOF patterns.

Are you confident that the POS design is better than an equivalent
procedural/relational version of the same thing? Remember, I don't
question that design patterns run and produce the correct output.
Running is not the issue. The issue is whether it is better from a
programmer productivity and/or software *maintenance* point of view.


Am _I_ confident? Sure, but I like OO programming more than I like procedural programming. I was just giving what I seem to remember as an example of successfully applying OO techniques to a business app. As with any implementation (OO or otherwise), I'm sure that people could pick it apart and point out ways to make it better.

Thus, before I fork over the money and time for such a book, I shall
request some specifics about what to look for and what to compare and
what kind of metric you are using. Does the author provide the
comparison and metrics? If not, where do I get them from?


Nope, because the point of his book wasn't to compare OO and procedural programming as to which is 'better'. The book was about applying UML and GOF patterns to software design and implementation.

I believe these are fair questions.

(I think I browsed that book in the store once and was not very
impressed with it, but can't remember why at the moment.)

-T-


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