Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.object,comp.lang.smalltalk
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!pipex!uunet!mole-end!mat
From: mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us
Subject: Re: Teaching OO
Message-ID: <1995Jan16.221402.7972@mole-end.matawan.nj.us>
Organization: :
References: <1994Dec26.162401.6570@rcmcon.com> <RFR0lOfN33q2071yn@IIA> <3f6919$2k5f@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 22:14:02 GMT
Lines: 27
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.c++:107820 comp.object:25148 comp.lang.smalltalk:19603

In article <3f6919$2k5f@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net>, bfelton@ibm.net writes:
> In <1995Jan13.060735.19034@mole-end.matawan.nj.us>, mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us writes:
> >
> >As Bob states, the first form of re-use is re-use in the next release.
> >
> >Believe it!  If your code can't pass this test for re-use, it won't pass
> >many other tests.
> 
> But it won't even *get* to that test if it isn't usable.  And I have seen
> too many cases of people being so concerned with reuse that they never
> complete a design, let alone implement and deliver...  (really!)

In my experience, what that really means is that they knew they wouldn't
be allowed to rebuild whatever it was a couple of times on a couple
of releases, so they had to spend time making it perfect ... and they
spend to much time at that.

We have to allow people to change designs a few times _before_ things get
cast into concrete.  Look at the APIs for Windows--and for W.Sys X.
For the latter, Fresco is finally providing an interface that seems no
more complex than necessary--but it took several major releases of WSysX
and a couple passes at InterViews to get it right.
-- 
 (This man's opinions are his own.)
 From mole-end				Mark Terribile
 mat@mole-end.matawan.nj.us, Somewhere in Matawan, NJ
	(Training and consulting in C, C++, UNIX, etc.)
