Re: OOPs! James is confused again!

"James" <jraustin1_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:a6e74506.0206140540.3ba944_at_posting.google.com...
> > > An object represents a thing:
> > > the concept of a Marble, Marble1, Marble2, etc.
> > > An object (Marble) creates instances (M1, M2)
> > > via its instantiate function.
> > > An instance (M1) is an object that has a class (Marble)
> > > which it determines via its classify function.
> > > A class (Marble) is an object that has an instance (M1).
> >
> > An object represents a thing.
> > An object create objects with some arbitrary function.
> > An object is an object that has a object which it determines via some
other
> > abitrary function.
> > An object is an object that has an object.
> >
> > Oh, yeah! That's useful!!!
>
> I may be occassionally confused but "my" object model isn't.
> Can you confuse "my" object model?

You still have: The object is an instance of an instance of an instance ad infinitum.

Not every oo model uses all of the following terms, but the following is as close to a consensus as I think you will find:

An object class (or type) comprises a set of object values (or just plain values) and their associated methods (or operations).

An object variable is simply a variable as understood in programming languages. At any given instant in time, a variable has a value (sometimes called a state) and can have different values at different times.

A constructor initializes the value of a variable.

An object instance is a dynamically allocated object variable.

Instantiation refers to the operation that dynamically allocates memory for a variable and that initializes its value by calling its constructor.

Since my interest is in the logical data models of database management systems, I prefer to ignore the purely physical distinctions:

A type (or class) comprises a set of (object) values and their associated operations (or methods).

At any given instant in time, a variable has a value (sometimes called a state) and can have different values at different times. Received on Fri Jun 14 2002 - 15:51:01 CDT