There are many approach to Object Oriented Programming. Here is one.
- Write a textual description of the problem to solve
- Exract major nouns and verbs from the description
- Organize and associate the verbs with the nouns
- Make an initial guess at organizing: Nouns are the classes and verbs are the methods
- After much iteration, model your thoughts into CRC cards
In object oriented, we are not concerned with the flow logic. It’s all about organizing and modularizing the code into a cohesive structure: classes.
The flow of the program is orchestrated after, using objects instantiated from the classes.
Following, we need to add a code to launch the program. A straigtforward way to do it is to use an orchestration engine.
Orchestrated Engine
The orchestration “engine” is the class where the procedural program flow will be. It needs an easy interface to kick things off as well as the objects required to facilitate the execution of the program.
Explore the Problem
Finding the right classes and methods on the first try is almost impossible and not something we should be willing to achieve.
Start with an exploratory code and test different code by playing around and validate your hypotheses.
While exploring you will get a better feel for possible solution and way to organize your code into coherant classes and methods.
Look for Repetitive Nouns in Method Names
A repetitive noun may be a sign the logic need its own class.
Check your Method Name
Don’t include the class name in the method.
class Player
def player_info
# do something
end
end
player1 = Player.new
player2 = Player.new
puts player1.player_info # Super redundant
puts player2.player_info # Super redundantAlso, pick a consistent naming convention which is easy to remember and give a good idea of what the method does.
Finally, remember this quote from programmers that have been doing it for years:
Premature optimization is the root of all evil.