eberard@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Edward Berard) (08/09/89)
Call For Discussion: The Formation of Comp.Object-Oriented
I would like to propose the formation of a new newsgroup, i.e.,
comp.object-oriented. The purpose of this group would be to provide a
forum for the discussion of object-oriented technology in general.
While I personally, am most interested in object-oriented concepts as
they relate to software, object-oriented hardware technology could
also be discussed on this newsgroup.
WHY NOT COMP.OOP?
The term "object-oriented programming" is misleading. Many people
limit the term to software application development using an
"officially sanctioned" object-oriented language. As our awareness of
things object-oriented increases, we realize that the term
"object-oriented programming" is too limiting to describe the entirety
of object-oriented technology.
Object-oriented thinking affects everything, from management practices
to the schema of the databases, from programming language selection to
in-house software development standards, and from training to personnel
selection. To attempt to keep the focus solely on the syntax and
semantics of a particular programming language is unrealistic.
COMMON INTERESTS
Many people are interested in object-oriented technology.
Object-oriented approaches have been used for communications,
information systems, real-time embedded applications, database design,
and even hardware design. Although the people implementing these
applications may have used quite a variety of different programming
languages, and an even wider variety of methodologies, they share many
common problems and concerns.
Recently, there have been questions about where to post such things as:
- A bibliography for the latest European Conference on
Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP)
- Calls for Papers for the ever-increasing numbers of
conferences and meetings dedicated in whole, or in part, to
object-oriented topics
- Questions about object-oriented methodologies, e.g.,
object-oriented requirements analysis, object-oriented
design, and others
- Questions about how to document objects and classes
- Questions about the availability of object-oriented CASE
tools
- Discussions of topics of general interest to the
object-oriented community, e.g., interoperability,
object-oriented data bases, objectification, and
object-oriented metrics.
Comp.object-oriented could provide a forum for all these topics.
POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
The following is a partial list of topics which could be discussed on
comp.object-oriented:
- definitions of terms and concepts
- object-oriented domain analysis
- object-oriented requirements analysis
- object-oriented design
- other object-oriented life-cycle issues, e.g.,
object-oriented testing
- object-oriented databases
- object-oriented computer hardware
- object-oriented metrics
- the impact of object-oriented technology on existing
standards and policies
- documentation techniques for object-oriented approaches
- transitioning to an object-oriented approach
- teaching object-oriented concepts and languages.
- management of object-oriented technology
- automated tools for object-oriented approaches
- object-oriented software engineering environments
- concurrency in an object-oriented approach
- estimating and costing an object-oriented approach
- reusability
- interoperability
- objectification
Issues such as the syntax and semantics of various object-oriented
programming languages would be more appropriately addressed in the
newsgroups for those languages. However, for example, the impact of
the selection of a particular programming language for a particular
project would be an appropriate topic.
HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
I must confess my ignorance as to the proper procedures for
establishing a new newsgroup. I think that there must first be a call
for votes ("yes" or "no", accompanied by some way to uniquely identify
the voter). The results of the balloting must then be presented to the
mythical "powers that be," i.e., those who can both officially
sanction and set up the newsgroup. (I have no idea who these people
are.)
Please direct all votes, for and against, to me, via e-mail. I will
try to keep you posted on the results. If you have any information
about the proper procedures for formation of a new newsgroup, please
let me know.
FINAL WORD
I think the idea is worthwhile, and long overdue.
-- Ed Berard
Berard Software Engineering, Inc.
18620 Mateney Road
Germantown, Maryland 20874
Phone: (301) 353-9652
E-Mail: eberard@ajpo.sei.cmu.edueberard@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Edward Berard) (08/09/89)
Folks, Someone was kind enough to send me the "guidelines for the creation of a new newsgroup. I will not reproduce them in their entirety here, but I will present relevant excerpts. These appear to be from "the powers that be." [My comments are contained in square brackets like the ones that enclose this sentence.] --------------------------------- [*** begin excerpts ***] ... "Any group creation request which follows these guidelines to a successful result should be honored, and any request which fails to follow these procedures or to obtain a successful result from doing so should be dropped, except under extraordinary circumstances." ... "It should be pointed out here that, as always, the decision whether or not to create a newsgroup on a given machine rests with the administrator of that machine." ... The Discussion 1) ...the actual discussion [should take] place only in news.groups. Users on sites which have difficulty posting to moderated groups may mail submissions intended for news.announce.newgroups to "announce-newgroups@ncar.ucar.edu". [Some discussion of comp.object-oriented has already taken place on news.groups.] 2) The discussion period should last for at least two weeks (14 days), and no more than 30 days. [This means the "discussion period" should end on, or around August 23, 1989.] 3) The name and charter of the proposed group ... [At present the name is "comp.object-oriented", and my original message, i.e., the "call for discussion" represents a trial charter. However, both are open to debate.] ... and whether it will be moderated or unmoderated (and if the former, who the moderator(s) will be) should be determined during the discussion period. ... [Do you want the group to be moderated? If so, by whom? Any volunteers?] [*** end of excerpts ***] ------------------------------- On, or around, August 23, 1989, assuming all goes well, I will post a formal "call for votes." That message will also include a summary of the voting rules. I will act as the vote collector. Unfortunately, all votes received prior to the formal call for votes, cannot be counted. Feel free to send me e-mail at any time. However, ALL DISCUSSION ON THE POSSIBLE FORMATION OF COMP.OBJECT-ORIENTED SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO news.groups. Thank you for your time and consideration. -- Ed Berard (301) 353-9652
eberard@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Edward Berard) (08/09/89)
The term "object-oriented" has been with us since Alan Kay coined it around 1970. It is so frequently used, and recognized, that the double-O (i.e., "OO") can even be recognized in acronyms, e.g., OOPSLA, ECOOP, OODBMS, OOP, and JOOP. It is my feeling that the name of a newsgroup should be as short as possible, while at the same time providing as much information as possible. This helps to attract new readers, and makes the name easy to remember. However, the name should not mislead, or confuse those who see it for the first time. I am also concerned about the length of a name which might not be handled correctly by some systems. An earlier poster suggested that a maximum length should be 14 characters. I have some suggestions: - comp.oo : This is for the people who hate to type. It may be too short to attract the attention of new readers. - comp.obj-oriented : This would be hard to mistake. However, it is not the easiest name to remember. - comp.object : This was suggested by an earlier poster. Without a second "o", it may be mistaken for a components newsgroup, or a discussion of "object code." I can live with any of the above. -- Ed Berard (301) 353-9652
oz@yunexus.UUCP (Ozan Yigit) (08/09/89)
In article <542@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu> eberard@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Edward Berard) writes: >I would like to propose the formation of a new newsgroup, i.e., >comp.object-oriented. Nice idea, long name. maybe comp.object ?? In any case I support it... oz -- They are like the Zen students who, Usenet: oz@nexus.yorku.ca when the master points at the moon, ......!uunet!utai!yunexus!oz continue to stare at his finger.... Bitnet: oz@[yulibra|yuyetti] P. da Silva Phonet: +1 416 736-5257x3976
bengsig@oracle.nl (Bjorn Engsig) (08/10/89)
Would you all please keep the discussion of this topic in news.groups only. Thank you. [ I'm sorry, but I did have to crosspost this :-) ] -- Bjorn Engsig, ORACLE Europe \ / "Hofstadter's Law: It always takes Path: mcvax!orcenl!bengsig X longer than you expect, even if you Domain: bengsig@oracle.nl / \ take into account Hofstadter's Law"