George --

>In reality, Jay, partitioning, cohesion and coupling go back to Structured Programming. I came from that paradigm. I heard all these horror stories about the "awful learning curve", but I never really experienced a very steep one. Why? I credit apply some of what I learned under that paradigm as to why. In many respects the two are very similar. In fact, prior to the release of VFP 3.0, a PowerBuilder programmer told me that I had applied OOP principles to a my FPW stuff.:-)

Yeah -- your terms really do give you away <g>! But, coupling, partitioning, cohesion all relate to how the components of an application are structured internally and related to one another -- regardless of the language (OO, structured, or whatever). It just came to me. I never could remember the difference between coupling and cohesion -- and in your comment it becomes clear. Cohesion is the internal consistency, ability to take care of itself, of an object (procedure, et al). Coupling is the deterministic or hard coded relationship an object has with another. Up with cohesion, down with coupling! <g>

I think a lot of folks got some partial information from CS instructors when the structured revolution came out. The stereotype is that structured programming means "no gotos" and sometimes is extended to single exits from procedures. The structured approach also includes structured design -- which is more along the lines of your comments. An solid awareness of design and the need for it, structured or otherwise, would certainly prepare one well for OO.

In past procedural work, my preferred approach has been to build data driven machines when appropriate (report engine, simple data warehousing). I like the flexibility that provides the user.

I have found OO a really good match to the problem set of programming, but, I've found it not a natural experience and tougher than I'd expected. There's so much "stuff" at so many different levels. I guess I'm just now feeling confident enough that I'm making at least generally appropriate decisions in the OO spirit <s>.


>>>Say, have you seen the new bio of "de Mayr"?

>I don't believe that "Boss" came from his columns. Are you thinking of "Slats Grobnick and Other Friends", perhaps. I think you're right that Royko may have brought his own biases to the work. However, it's hard to find a really objective bio. Whomever does it ends up with some sort of opinion one way or the other because of their research. It's very hard to keep that stuff from hitting the printed page.

And I like and share those biases! I think Royko wrote like one of us if we were in his shoes. I do look forward to borrowing the new bio from dad when he's done -- I think it will provide a well rounded portrait -- but, I expect it loses the familiarity with the subject that I much enjoyed with Royko.

>>>BTW, did you ever see that PBS show on him (Daly)?

>>Anyways, I do remember a special. The one scene that stuck out vividly was Daley escorting QE2 down the aisle at a ceremony when she visited the city. Not bad for a kid from Bridgeport!

>As a matter of fact, I remember that event. There was a motorcade that went past Hyde Park where she visited the Museum of Science & Industry. I was a kid (of course) but I remember if vividly. For that matter, I remember when they brought the U-505 across Lake Shore Drive to the museum. Was there for that too.

Wow. I remember going to the Museum to see the U-505 I think a year after it was installed. That was the highlight of the place (along with the Coal Mine) as far as I was concerned. Remember the old AT&T exhibit? You got to ring people up with old handsets? Well, the entrance is still the same, but they've really modernized it. It's probably the best introduction to digital technology that I've seen -- voice, data, images, sound -- ending in a VR simulation.

Hey, have a good weekend!