Yah, you're right. But what gets me going is not code issues. I could care less about disagreements about that. I should ignore things like " No, as usual, you miss my point. ", but I just cannot get used to that sort of thing, it seems. I'll try harder to ignore them. I am sure my getting ticked off at rudeness gets old to others too. I am just not used to it. The only place I get it is on these lists.
Jack On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 22:52:02 -0500, Frank W. Zammetti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Wow, this is getting a little hostile fellas... > > It's not like we're trying to decide whether Heidi Klum is hotter than > Tyra Banks (she is, but not by much), and we're not trying to decide > whether Enterprise should be cancelled (I say one more season to right > the ship), and it's not like we're trying to decide if the B5 movie > should have Peter Woodward playing Galen (I will blow up the studio if > he's not). > > We're just talking code here. Heck, it's not even a major issues no > matter which side of the fence your on. > > Let's pull back from the brink of WWIII here :) > > -- > Frank W. Zammetti > Founder and Chief Software Architect > Omnytex Technologies > http://www.omnytex.com > > Dakota Jack wrote: > > <snip> > > On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 01:49:56 +0100, Leon Rosenberg > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >>>I think the whole thing comes down to Leon thinking that > >>>classes cannot implement a constant interface, which they can > >>>and, unfortunately do. The important thing, however, is that > >>>they can and that means that your design will be flawed if > >>>you do that. > >>> > >>>Am I getting you right, Leon? > >> > >>No, as usual, you miss my point. As for your question, I know that it's > >>technically possible for a class to implement a constant interface. It's > >>also technically possible to write something like > >> > >> String a = "blah"; > >> String b = "blah"; > >> if (a==b){ > >> //do what you want. > >> } > >> > >>Both is possible, both would work, and both is crap. > > > > </snip> > > > > No need to be "snippy" even if I am snipping. Okay, you did not think > > a constant interface could not be implemented. You only thought it > > would be "crap" coding to do so. > > > > I think you are applying old-school procedural programming rules which > > turned out to be unworkable and which led to the OOP (Object Oriented > > Programming) model. The point of good design is to not have to depend > > on good coders. If you want to make sure you can change the > > implementation of a class, then you cannot rely on the assumption that > > an interface will not be implemented. You cannot rely on the > > assumption that you won't have to deal with "crappy" coders. The > > *point* is that once you lock the API into the possibility you have to > > live with the possibility. > > > > <snip> > > > >>What i really don't understand, is, why is an interface, which is not > >>describing a contract, a problem? > > > > </snip> > > > > Well, I listed the problems that Joshua Bloch gave. I agree with > > them. You don't agree with them? If not, what is your response to > > the list of problems? > > > > <snip> > > > >>I think it is not a greater problem, then > >>a class which does nothing, like your constant_holder_class would be. So we > >>have two equal evils, and I prefer the lesser evil, the > >>having__constant_holder_interfaces__evil. > > > > </snip> > > > > I am afraid I have not seen any "evil" in using the class as a > > "constant holder". What is the evil? > > > > <snip> > > > >>Imagine following situation: I have a legacy system (lets call it foo), > >>which I have to use in my application. Let's imagine it speaks xml over > >>http. The legacy system has a set of parameters it undestands. Now, when I > >>write a driver for this system, I would have something like this. > >>IFooDriver - interface describing the driver, for use by the rest of my app. > >>FooDriverImpl - my implementation of this driver, maybe > >>FooSpecificDriverImpl. > >>FooDriverFactory and some needed data classes would exist also. > >> > >>Lets further imagine we have 2 parameters, username and password. Since i > >>don't want to use > >>them as String, I want to create two constants: > >>public static final String PARAM_USERNAME = "username"; > >>public static final String PARAM_PASSWORD = "password"; > >> > >>Where do I place those constants? > >> > >>In my approach, I would create an interface IFooConstants with both > >>constants, > >>and refer in FooDriverImpl by the full name. > >> > >>In your approach, there would be FooConstants class with same constants. > >> > >>The difference seems to be very small, only an 'I' in the class/interface > >>name. > > > > </snip> > > > > The difference actually is huge. You apparently think there is no > > difference because you do not implement the interface but only refer > > to the constants by FooConstants.USERNAME and so on. If this were the > > only possibility, you would be right. However, SOMEONE ELSE might > > well implement the interface and now you have the whole panoply of > > problems we have discussed. You are, again, assuming that you only > > have non-"crap" coders. The whole design problem is predicated on the > > fact that you can only treat your API as protected as your exposure > > and you expose the *heck* out of the API and then seem to want to > > depend on the good will of the coders. That might be okay if you live > > in your own little insular world where you control everything. That > > is design disaster if you live in a world where other people make > > decisions without you dictating to them, other than by design, what > > they can and cannot do. > > > > <snip> > > > >>So why should an interface only be able to describe objects and components > >>and not other > >>'describeables' like protocols ? > > > > </snip> > > > > The job of interfaces are to create types and to define their API > > exposure. The job, in short, is to create an interface that the user > > can depend upon. This interface should be implementation ignorant, > > i.e. should leave the coder free to implement the interface as > > desired. Your interface, when used, ties the coder to an > > implementation detail. This is classically considered to be a bad and > > to be a design mistake. I would like to be gentle and to use some > > kind words to end this, like I did last time, but, learning from the > > past, let me say that you are just plain flat mistaken here in my > > opinion. If you don't believe me, and you don't believe the guy who > > is in charge of design for the Java platform (who rues Java having > > done otherwise in java.io.ObjectStreamConstants) then perhaps you > > could address the real question of why it is okay to have an interface > > tied to implementation details? I hate to even sound unflexible, but > > arguing for interfaces injecting implementation details is so > > anti-good-design I cannot take it too seriously and I have to admit > > that my flexibility is embrace your sort of design discussion. > > > > Jack > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- ------------------------------ "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it float on its back." ~Dakota Jack~ "You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep." ~Native Proverb~ "Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows." ~Hunkesni (Sitting Bull), Hunkpapa Sioux~ ----------------------------------------------- "This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. 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