Rev & OOP

[Rob Cozens]

Hi Dan,

>So I would agree that the programmer who rejected Revolution out of hand 
>without digging more deeply into the advantages it offers and shares with 
>OO environments was hasty and ill-advised (and probably, as you say, more 
>interested in eliminating alternatives than in finding the correct one). 
>But to dismiss OO out of hand is, IMNSHO, equally short-sighted. As you so 
>rightly say, the two big concerns are programmer productivity and code 
>maintainability. And in those respects, Transcript is awfully hard to beat.

When categorizing OOP as the "buzz concept de jour", it is not my intention 
to dismiss it out of hand, nor to downplay the value of its underlying 
concepts.  To the degree that xTalk incorporates OOP capabilities, that's a 
good thing, me thinks.

But when a programmer says, "Your programming platform isn't worth 
evaluating because it does not support [the latest concept] as taught at 
universities.", that gives me a strong indication the person doesn't know 
what he is talking about or isn't interested in looking closer.

In my 30+ years of programming, I have seen many trends and concepts arise 
and later be replaced others.  Many seem to thrive in the theoretical world 
but are still not implemented in the real world to any major extent when 
the theorists move on to something new.

And often concepts come full circle:

Single-user systems were made multi-user.
Single computer, multi-user systems were replaced by networked single-user 
systems.
Networked single-user systems were replaced by client/server systems, 
returning control of dbs & files to a single computer and application.

Distributed processing was a buzz concept at one time.  Maybe one or two of 
the clients I have worked with over the years might have had a use for it; 
nobody else I've worked with could care less.

In my senior year of college I took Public Administration Case Studies, in 
which the descripion of a problem or situation was read to the class and 
each person described how she would approach it.  Without knowing anything 
about a person, I could classify him as student, military, or practicing 
administrator based on his response:

*  Student:  "Do what the textbook says."
*  Military:  "What's the problem?  Order somebody to do something."
*  Administrator: [Anything other that two responses above.]

I don't believe these viewpoints differ much based on subject matter, and I 
would be VERY leary of anyone who responds to a real-world situation with a 
classroom response.

Rob Cozens CCW
Serendipity Software Company

"And I, which was two fooles, do so grow three;
  Who are a little wise, the best fooles bee."

  from "The Triple Foole" by John Donne (1572-1631)