Path: text.usenetserver.com!out02a.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!postnews.google.com!news2.google.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nx02.iad01.newshosting.com!newshosting.com!post01.iad01!post02.iad01!roadrunner.com!not-for-mail
From: "Leslie Sanford" <jabberdabber@bitemehotmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.databases.theory,comp.object
References: <_ZoJj.3574$at6.3220@trndny01>
Subject: Re: How is Behavior Specified
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 12:26:19 -0500
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198
X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
Lines: 37
Message-ID: <47f664e3$0$12545$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>
Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: 76.186.73.164
X-Complaints-To: abuse@rr.com
Xref: usenetserver.com comp.databases.theory:171201 comp.object:265570
X-Received-Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:26:59 EST (text.usenetserver.com)


"David Cressey" wrote:
> How is behavior specified?
>
> In particular, is the specification expressed as declaratives or as
> imperatives?

I think it would be a mixture of both. At some level you have to write the 
code that actually implements the algorithms/behavior. Once the 
implementation is done, the "How" of the matter, you can move up a level in 
abstraction and use a more declarative approach, the "What" of the matter. 
So if I do something like this:

class DarkStar
{
public:
    // Stuff...

    void CancelBombDetonation()
    {
        // Code that actually implements the cancel bomb detonation
        // algorithm... have philosophical conversation with bomb
        // to convince it not to blow up...
    }
};

The code for the CancelBombDetonation method is imperative; it determines 
how the algorithm is carried out. I can now take a more declarive approach:

darkStar.CancelBombDetonation();

At the level where the behavior is invoked, I don't care about how the 
algorithm is implemented, only that it does *what* I expect.

Does this make sense?