3.2 When the Action-Oriented Paradigm Goes Right

3.2 When the Action-Oriented Paradigm Goes Right

When first exposed to the action-oriented solution to the preceding problem, many people state that they do not build action-oriented software in this way. They place each data structure of their system in a separate file in which they include any functions in the system relying on that data structure. It is true that this makes the system more maintainable , but what is the file they have created? It is the bidirectional relationship between data and behavior, namely, a class, in object-oriented terminology. What the object-oriented paradigm does is to replace the convention of encapsulating data and behavior using the file system with a design-language-level mechanism. In short, it takes programming by convention carried out by the best programmers and replaces it with a lower-level mechanism. This allows the average programmer to take advantage of good design/implementation techniques without fully understanding the principles behind them. The main problems of programming by convention is that first a given developer has to understand it and second, he or she must stick with it. The latter constraint is the toughest to enforce.

We see that when action-oriented programming goes right, it takes on the attributes of the object-oriented paradigm. This makes sense, since the object-oriented paradigm is really an evolutionary step from the action-oriented paradigm. Does that imply that the object-oriented paradigm is the panacea that will eliminate the software crisis? If it isn't, where does the object-oriented paradigm go wrong? There are two very distinct areas where the object-oriented paradigm can drive design in a dangerous direction. The first is a problem of poorly distributed system intelligence, while the second is the creation of too many classes for the size of the design problem. We refer to these pitfalls as the god class problem and the proliferation of classes problem. The god class problem manifests itself in two forms, the behavioral form and the data form. The proliferation of classes problem is produced by a number of factors. We will examine each of these problems in the following sections.