Building Skills in Object-Oriented Design

Excerpts from the Preface: Some software developers find themselves stalled when trying to do object-oriented (OO) design. As programmers, they’ve understood the syntax of a programming language, and pieced together small examples. However, it is often difficult to take the next step to becoming a designer. Because this transition from guided learning of language features to self-directed design work is often ignored, programmers are left to struggle through their first design projects without appropriate skills or support. While it is critically important to examine examples of good design, a finished product doesn’t reveal the author’s decision-making process that created the design. The most notable consequence of this skills gap is the creation of software that is far more complex than necessary to effectively solve a given problem. This, in turn, leads to software with high maintenance costs stemming from the low quality. It also leads to an unfair indictment of OO technology; this is usually voiced as “we tried OO programming and it failed.” The intent of this book is to help the beginning designer by giving them a sequence of interesting and moderately complex exercises in OO design. This book can also help managers develop a level of comfort with the process of OO software development. The applications we will build are a step above trivial, and will require some careful thought and design. Further, because the applications are largely recreational in nature, they are interesting and engaging. This book allows the reader to explore the processes and artifacts of OO design before project deadlines make good design seem impossible. Intended Audience: This book assumes an introductory level of skill in an OO programming language.