OOP and the scope of a class, am I wrong?

[Dave Kreskowiak]

I wish they would have taught just the basic technique of outputting suspect variables to the console, but when I was going, they didn't teach even that.

Asking questions is a skill CodeProject Forum Guidelines Google: C# How to debug code Seriously, go read these articles. Dave Kreskowiak

[Christian Graus]

When I was learning C++, most college professors knew a bit of C and taught C as C++. I see things have not improved

[Jorgen Andersson]

I believe ablative gerund belongs to latin grammar, and there is no such thing as easy latin. But I'm probably wrong though, as I never learned latin.

Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

[giulicard]

honey the codewitch wrote:

Am I wrong here?

No, not at all. A class, in the various languages that contemplate it as a construct, is one of several possible forms of implementing an ADT (Abstract Data Type). Generally data + code, plus some other "automation" to implement inheritance and, consequently, dynamic polymorphism, at least in languages like C++. An ADT is also an opaque structure (like FILE in the C library) in addition to the free functions that operate on it: it does not matter what the "guts/bowels" (hidden part) of a class or structure look like, what matters is the interface with which it allows you to operate, i.e., the functions that accept an explicit or implicit "this".

[Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter]

Your description is very accurate IMHO... Can you - secretly - share the name of the places those professors teaching? I want to ensure my kids don't go near there... :-D

"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg

[Derek Hunter]

Awesome rabbit-hole :)

[Lost User]

Ha ha! I remember "ablative" and "gerund" from my Latin classes back in the 1950s. So I just put the two words together as a joke. But the joke, it appears, is on me, as there realy is such a thing. But I am not sure exactly what that thing is.

[Richard Deeming]

honey the codewitch wrote:

A car class might contain 4 Tire class instances ... Am I wrong here?

Yes - you misspelled "tyre". ;P

---

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

[Daniel Pfeffer]

[Gerund and Gerundive | Dickinson College Commentaries](https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/gerund-and-gerundive#:~:text=The ablative of the gerund,%2C and (rarely) prō.)

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

[honey the codewitch]

You're probably safe. I ran into this while helping a student from South Africa

Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

[Ravi Bhavnani]

honey the codewitch wrote:

professors are teaching that classes are effectively a single action like ReadTextFile

I hope what they meant (but probably didn't clearly convey) is a recommendation for a TextFileReader class (that derives from FileReader that derives from StreamReader) that has methods like Read() and ReadToEnd(). /ravi

My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

[honey the codewitch]

Not at all. It had ParsePatientData, and OuputPatientData Yeah. It's like that. And the assignment required the name.

Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

[Mark Quennell]

I guess that could be considered a class in a command-based architecture, where ReadTextFile inherits from (or implements) some sort of base Command class and it contains all the information the processing system needs to perform that action, but it's a stretch, and certainly not to be taught as "the norm"...

[DT Bullock]

That's almost certainly what is being taught. It comes from the (very helpful) book 'Design Patterns' by Erich, Gamma, et. al. (aka. 'the Gang of Four' ... abbreviated everywhere to 'GoF'). It is useful in particular situations, and it has trade-offs. Professors should teach it, but I doubt they are advocating that it should be always done that way ... that's more likely students not grasping the nuance of when to apply the pattern.

[JeffL45]

Many people consider this a must read for OOP/class deisgn -

[Gary Wheeler]

honey the codewitch wrote:

In my mind, a class is a noun, not a verb, essentially

For me, a class may be either a noun or a verb. As a noun, the concept represented by the class is a thing, and the class provides information and operations for that thing. For a verb the concept is a process, and the class supports that process. I guess 'process' can be thought of as a noun, but thinking of it that way adds indirection to my thinking.

Software Zen: delete this;

[MikeCO10]

No, you are correct. Your car is a valid class as you define it. ReadTextFile() is a function. To be a valid class, imo, it would be TextFile as the class, with properties and actions. TextFile.length, etc. and TextFile.Read,write,etc. My take, in English grammar, is that a class should be a noun, with adjectives, verbs and possibly adverbs that go with it. If it's short of that, it deserves another look for consideration as a function or structure. I suppose, depending on the language, a class could be looked at as a convenient way to store a reusable. What a declaration nightmare that creates, using your example.

[BryanFazekas]

honey the codewitch wrote:

But I'm hearing that professors are teaching that classes are effectively a single action like ReadTextFile and it makes me a lot more irritated than I probably should be.

You're right. A class encapsulate a physical or logical object, including ways to interact with the object. What that professor is teaching is sheer idiocy. Many moons ago a friend relayed a story -- we worked for a consulting firm and he did the tech interview for a professor that had taught VB at the local community college for 5 years. She failed the interview and he recommended against hiring her. Why? She knew the syntax of the language better than he did, but she had NO idea how to actually program. She could answer questions such as "which method to use to add an item to a listbox" (something we didn't bother asking), but didn't know which construct to use for looping. She could write an if loop, but couldn't tell when to use if or while or foreach. He went into the interview assuming it was a formality, and ended up vetoing her. Far too many college professors have no real world experience.

[MarkTJohnson]

But he explained OOP that way and the implmentation in C++ was that way as well.

I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated. I’m begging you for the benefit of everyone, don’t be STUPID.

[Daniel Anderson 2021]

I`d say no you are not wrong, but the teacher is not necessarily wrong either. A class can be almost anything in C++. - Can be an interface - Can be a functor - Can be just data - Whatever... so, depending on how the teacher wants the thing to evolve he might direct his students. with very little or no context it is hard to decide who's right. If you are using class to model things, they can be names. If they model actions, they can be verbs. If they model attributes, they can be adjectives. classes are one of the mechanisms for encapsulation & data hiding after that, when I do code review, I usually check the coupling between the class and the client, this usually tells me if the data hiding or encapsulation is at a proper level or done right.