Database Guy Asks: Object-Oriented Design Theory?

Question

I\'ve worked with designing databases for a loooong time, and these days I\'m working in C# too. OO makes sense to me, but I don\'t feel that I have a good grounding in the dee

Answer 1

Go for Object Thinking by David West. An interesting read..
You're from the dark side though.. as per the book;) Database thinking has been the curse of OO programmers all over. They're opposite ends of a spectrum. For instance

• Database thinking values the data attribues over everything else.. normalization and creating types based on how they fit into the DB Schema OR the ER diagram.. OO thinking creates types based on behavior and collaboration and does not recognize the data attributes as all important.
• Databases come from the scientific people who value formalization and method over everything else. OO comes from the people who use heuristics and rules of thumb and value individuality and social interaction over a hard and fast process.

The point being a COBOL programmer can write COBOL programs even after moving onto a OO Language. Check out any book like Thinking in Java for the first section which invariably details out the tenets of OO (Apprentice).. Follow it up with Object Thinking (journeyman) and in due time.. a master.