Thinking Like an Object


Metaphors such as those just introduced should shape our thinking about objects and about software constructed from those objects. Internalizing these metaphors and the philosophical presuppositions stated in earlier chapters allows you to start thinking like an object. Until you are able to do so, and more important, until you can extend your thinking into new areas, you will fail to realize the full potential of objects. In large part, the internalization process will occur over time and with experience. It is possible to adopt certain techniques and use certain models to enforce the practice while you are gaining experience. Later portions of this book will explore and discuss some of those models.

Most of the models discussed will bear a striking surface similarity to models constructed using classical software modeling techniques. Syntactically, the variation between many objects and classical models is minimal. It s the semantic content of the models ”derived from how we accomplish our analysis and decomposition of our domain ”that will vary.

Because the models are so similar in syntactic structure, it will be very easy to revert to old habits, to use the new models in old ways. A partial defense against this tendency is the adoption of a new vocabulary. In the next chapter, we will examine a vocabulary that reflects both the philosophy introduced earlier and that is consistent with the metaphors presented in this chapter. Whenever the vocabulary definitions seem strange or unduly restrictive , remember the philosophy and the metaphors that inspired them.




Microsoft Object Thinking
Object Thinking (DV-Microsoft Professional)
ISBN: 0735619654
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 88
Authors: David West

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