Re: SOS: Simple Object System

[Linas Vepstas]

2008/9/24 Clinton Ebadi <address@hidden>:

> This is a bit of an open problem even if the other languages. You can
> specify a collective interface in Java (or a mixin class in C++), but
> you still cannot specify the required behavior of the protocol except
> in an ad hoc fashion. This is a problem that may never be solved (and
> is perhaps a sign that OO is not so great).

There are certainly many other problems with the OO
paradigm. I have coded in Java, and one of its greatest
failings is that it *forces* you to associate every function
to some object -- It forces you into designing interfaces
even when you are only interested in implementation.

This is not a problem for some 90% of all the functions
one typically ahs to create in some project.
However, during architecture, design, development,
there's always a few "tricky" areas, where its simply
not clear where to implement some function -- there
may be several choices, all not very good, etc.
However, Java *forces* you to stick such functions
into a class, some class, any class, even if they don't
really belong there. And once you do that, the next
thing you know, they are so tightly tied in, that it
becomes impossible (well, overwhelmingly difficult)
to refactor the code.  This is a variant of the so-called
"quick-setting concrete" effect seen in C++.

In real life, design needs to be more flexible, more
moldable, and code needs to be easy to change.
Many object systems seem to make a point of
inhibiting design change, by forcing you design
(and use) an interface before you are intellectually
ready to design the interface.

--linas