DocumentCode
1399138
Title
Tell less, say more: the power of implicitness
Author
Meyer, Bertrand
Author_Institution
EiffelSoft, Goleta, CA, USA
Volume
31
Issue
7
fYear
1998
fDate
7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
97
Lastpage
98
Abstract
Implicitness is a very practical feature of OO development, as distinctive as anything that is routinely considered part of the definition. It is the constant refusal to say more than what we strictly need to say. The double refusal (refusal to close, refusal to assert completeness) requires some intellectual audacity, but yields a productive development process. In the end, what resolves the contradiction is the release of the software. The release process (the process of closing what was until now open) is the process of equating each type with the Cartesian product of its properties. So when everything has been said, the objects are indeed what they have. But only at the end. Until then, you always leave room for more properties. Everything is open until officially closed; and by telling less now you retain the possibility of saying more later
Keywords
object-oriented programming; OO development; development process; implicitness; refusal to assert completeness; refusal to close; release process; Large-scale systems; Mathematical model; Object oriented modeling; Technological innovation;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Computer
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
0018-9162
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/2.689680
Filename
689680
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