Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!plyon
From: plyon@ut-emx.uucp (Paul Lyon)
Newsgroups: comp.object
Subject: Re: Seeking Object Oriented Design Training
Keywords: Object Oriented Design Training
Message-ID: <51327@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 27 Jun 91 18:24:56 GMT
References: <13457@sybase.sybase.com> <1991Jun24.190417.10440@netcom.COM> <4203@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP>
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin; Austin, Texas
Lines: 46

In article <4203@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> dmg@ssc-vax.UUCP (David M Geary) writes:

>  Therefore, due to lack of tools, or lack of compilers, many who
>  would probably like to be programming in C++ are stuck doing C.
>  
>  However, this does not mean that one cannot apply the principles
>  of OOP when writing C.  There are many things one can do in C to
>  achieve a high degree of modularity and reusability, however, many
>  C programmers are not well versed in this area.
>
>

For those who would desire to become better versed, here a couple of
references that could help:

   John W.L. Ogilvie, _Advanced C Struct Programming: Data Structure
     Design & Implementation in C_, Wiley & Sons, New York, 1990.

This has useful examples, together with a running discussion on
designing "abstract data types" that is oriented towards practical
work (and seems clearly to be based on practical experience).
C programmers trying to convert to C++ might also benefit from
this book, not so much for guidance on programming in C++ (for
there is no discussion of that therein), but more for the spirit
of the thing: the idea being that once one sees how to design
with abstract data types in C, one will be better prepared for
programming in a C based language with support for abstract data
types.

   Roger Sessions, _Reusable Data Structures for C_, Prentice-Hall
     Englewood Cliffs, 1989.

This book has some instructive examples about how one might go
about providing a measure of encapsulation within C for basic
data structures such as linked lists, stacks, queues, and 
binary trees. [Sessions calls the reusable code modules that he
presents "packages" (Hmm.., and what other language has he been
using? :-)].  A nice feature of this book is the effort Sessions
makes, in his "Performance" chapter, to speak to the concerns
C programmers might have about efficiency, since his approach
requires smallish functions (with a view towards making it easier
to try to decide correctness). [His reply to such
worries is a reasonable elaboration of "make it work before you
make it fast".]

Paul Lyon