[Coco] OO programming - [Was]:Emulator

[Fedor Steeman]

Boy, I sure saw that one coming! :-)

> What is the big attraction to object-oriented? Like any other methodology,

> it has its place and is more suited to some problems than others.

Well, for one thing OO/D&P helps the programmer focus on the problem domain,
rather than on trivial hardware or platform-related requirements that in our
day and age are or should be abstracted away anyways. In the long run, it
will help the body of code remain easier to overview, easier to understand,
easier to develop, easier to manage and easier to change and expand,
especially when applying well-established Design Patterns.

> Yes, you can solve any problem with OO languages if you really desire,
> but it's not always the best solution.

Whereas it may be fine to solve trivial problems and/or do low-level
programming on hardware or embedded systems, when it comes to increasingly
complex user-focused applications, the best way to manage the resulting
jungle appears to be OO. One could also say that OO is closer to human
thinking processes and procedural languages are closer to machines
processes. So of course it depends whether the problem you are trying to
solve is machine-oriented, or user-oriented.

> In fact, I'd even venture to declare that OO is _not_ suitable, or at the
very
> least not much of an advantage, to a single-platform (eg Coco) emulator
design.

Perhaps so, but I can see major advantages in abstracting away logic dealing
with display and I/O and at the same time implementing the emulated system's
machine logic as the signal-exchanging objects that they in reality are. The
only downside would be performance, but on moderne day computers that should
not be a problem anymore. On an even more positive side, one could easily
make changes and reuse the same code for emulating different systems.

> And I've seen some really _bad_ and really _pointless_ "OO programs" in
the real world.

A poor craftsman blames his tools. Or: bad craftsmanship is more easily
blamed on the craftsman than on his tools. So that argument is not really
valid. :-)

> If the objective is fun and self challenge - by all means knock yourself
out!
> You can't have too many Coco emulators after all! ;)

Thanks, I will take your encouragement to heart and hope that I (or someone
else) some day will be able to come up with something new and exciting for
the community! Whatever it may be and however it may have been developed!
:-)

Cheers,
Fedor


2009/11/1 Mark McDougall <msmcdoug at iinet.net.au>

> Fedor Steeman wrote:
>
>  besides that, it is not object-oriented. That is why I am hinting at
>> BlitzMax which is powerful, easy and object-oriented.
>>
>
> What is the big attraction to object-oriented? Like any other methodology,
> it has its place and is more suited to some problems than others. In fact,
> I'd even venture to declare that OO is _not_ suitable, or at the very least
> not much of an advantage, to a single-platform (eg Coco) emulator design.
>
> Those that sprout the view that OO is the be-all-and-end-all to programming
> solutions have, IMHO, limited experience in real world problems (as in,
> limited _range_ of experience, not necessarily limited (time) programming
> experience) and/or limited understanding of when and how to best incorporate
> OO design principles. Yes, you can solve any problem with OO languages if
> you really desire, but it's not always the best solution. And I've seen some
> really _bad_ and really _pointless_ "OO programs" in the real world.
>
> And I don't mean to insinuate that you yourself fall into the above
> category.
>
> If the objective is fun and self challenge - by all means knock yourself
> out! You can't have too many Coco emulators after all! ;)
>
> That aside, I do actually agree with your "fuzz" comment. I'm a very
> occasional Coco emulator user and I do find myself having to relearn how to
> use MESS each time I need to crank up an emulator. However, at the end of
> the day, MESS still suits my own purposes (primarily development) and it is
> my emulator of choice.
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> |              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
> |  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug<http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Emsmcdoug>>
>   |   with less resistance!"
>
>
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