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Moore's law says that computer hardware capability doubles every 18 months. For programmers, this is good news and bad news. The good news is that programmers get to work with ever more blazing machines. The bad news is that as hardware becomes more powerful, software becomes larger and more complex. One way objects assist programmers is by helping them manage software's increasing complexity .
Large software systems are difficult to understand. If a system is composed of individual object pieces, however, each object can embody an amount of complexity that programmers can fully grasp. Programmers can then understand the system's behavior as a whole in terms of the behavior of its object pieces and the interactions between them. A well-designed object, therefore, is understandable.
During an object-oriented design, you divide the system functionality into areas of responsibility. You assign each area of responsibility to a class, and give each class a name. For each named class, you devise a bundle of services (each service offered by a method) through which that class's instances fulfill their responsibilities. By focusing each object on an area of responsibility that encompasses a reasonable level of complexity, you help programmers who use your objects deal with the overall complexity of their systems.
Understanding is further enhanced through
the practice of naming classes after relevant concepts from the
problem domain, such as Account
, Matrix
,
or StampDispenser
. To the extent that classes model
familiar real-world concepts from the problem domain, programmers
can find it easier to understand and use instances of those classes.
Programmers can also find it easier to comprehend object-oriented systems because their organization is similar to that of human activities. If you have a goal, you can hire people to help you achieve that goal. Each person agrees to perform a particular job. You organize and direct their individual efforts to help you achieve your overall goal. Similarly, to accomplish a goal in a system, you enlist the help of objects. Each object must fulfill the obligations delineated in its contract. By organizing and directing the services provided by the objects, you can achieve your overall goal for the system.
Objects also help programmers manage complexity
by facilitating
Lastly, objects help programmers create systems
that, despite being complex, are
Last Updated: Friday, April 26, 2002
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