Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c++:5486 comp.lang.smalltalk:1483 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!caesar.cs.montana.edu!ogccse!cvedc!nosun!qiclab!jamesd From: jamesd@qiclab.UUCP (James Deibele) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk Subject: Re: new OO books Keywords: books Message-ID: <3144@qiclab.UUCP> Date: 12 Nov 89 06:21:20 GMT References: <271@zeek.UUCP> Reply-To: jamesd@qiclab.UUCP (James Deibele) Organization: Qic Laboratories, Portland, Oregon. Lines: 50 In article <271@zeek.UUCP> rick@zeek.UUCP (Rick Wilhelm) writes: >I just received the mailing for a CS book club that I belong to, >and two new OO books are among the featured selections this month. [...] >_Object-Oriented Analysis_ Peter Coad and Ed Yourdon, Oct 89 Prentice Hall > >Has anyone read these books and have an opinion on them? >I realize that they are brand new, but maybe some of you have seen >pre-release copies or are familiar with the authors and their theories. > >Another question: Does Ed Yourdon have the qualifications to write >an OOD book considering that he also wrote _Modern Structured Analysis_? >Is it possible that his ideas won't be purely OO? >(Just speculation, no slander intended.) I get the distinct impression that Coad wrote most of the book, and that Yourdon was added for name recognition, but I might be wrong. (_OOA_ showed up Thursday FedEx'd from Prentice-Hall, which would normally make me pay attention, except John Quarterman's new book, _The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide_ was in the same box. I'm reading it with pleasure instead. Recommended.) However, while I chose to bring _The Matrix_ home for a little rainy Sunday reading, I did also bring home a copy of "The Hotline on Object-Oriented Technology," a new newsletter published by the same folks who do "Journal of Object-Oriented Programming" and "The C++ Report." This is a pretty spendy newsletter, at $249/year for charter subscribers, especially considering that it's only 24 pages long. (212) 972-7055 to subscribe if you wish. In this issue, Norman Kerth of Elite Systems reviews _OOA_. He's impressed by the fact that Coad/Yourdon show how OOP techniques can be used with extremely large systems while still addressing the limitations of the OOP approach. The methodology they use consists of five major steps: identifying objects; identifying structure; identifying subjects; defining attributes; and defining services. There are several examples for each step, along with case studies showing how the OOA methodology was used. Kerth praises the book for several reasons: for being well-written, for analyzing the history of objects (demonstrating that the authors have used the techniques in the real world), and for not claiming that their relatively young methodology is completed or the answer for all problems. He "highly recommends" the book. (The ISBN for this book is 0-13-629122-8, and the list price is $29.80 (odd price). For those interested, _The Matrix_ is 0-13-565607-9 and $50.00.) -- James Deibele jamesd@qiclab BBSs: (503) 760-1473 or (503) 761-7451 TECHBooks: The Computer Book Specialists --- Voice: (503) 646-8257 12600 SW 1st Beaverton, OR 97005 --- Book reviewers wanted for computer science & electronics - contact us for more information.