2.4 Dynamic Semantics

In addition to fixed data and behavioral descriptions, objects have local state (i.e., a snapshot) at runtime of the dynamic values of an object's data descriptions. The collection of all possible states of a class's objects, along with the legal transitions from one state to another, is called the dynamic semantics of the class. Dynamic semantics allow an object to respond differently to the same message sent at two different times in the life of the object. Consider the following abstract example:

 Method junk for the class X        if (local state #1) then            do something       else if (local state #2) then            do something different End Method 

The dynamic semantics of objects are an integral part of any object-oriented design. In general, any class with interesting dynamic semantics should have those semantics documented in a state-transition diagram (see Figure 2.8). Classes with interesting dynamic semantics include those classes having a finite number of states, with well-defined transitions from one state to another. The state-transition diagram in Figure 2.9 details the dynamic semantics of the processes in an operating system. It shows that processes can be in a runnable state, the current process state, the blocked state, the sleeping state, or the exited state. In addition, processes can be created only in the runnable state; they can be destroyed only in the exited state; they can exit only if they are in the current process state; and they can become the current process only if they are first a runnable process. This information can be very useful for creating test suites for our class and its objects. Some designers accidentally model dynamic semantics as static semantics. This mistake leads to a proliferation of classes, a serious problem in the object-oriented paradigm. We will explore this problem and its avoidance in Chapter 5 when discussing the inheritance relationship.

Figure 2.8. State-transition diagram notation.

Figure 2.9. State transitions of processes in an operating system.