bryan@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Doug L. Bryan) (10/06/89)
Has anyone read Yourdon's book ``OOA---Object-Oriented Analysis'' from Prentice-Hall? It would be nice to see some recommendations or reviews posted to this news group. doug
brown@mrsvr.UUCP (Russ Brown) (10/06/89)
From article <317@sierra.stanford.edu>, by bryan@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Doug L. Bryan): > Has anyone read Yourdon's book ``OOA---Object-Oriented Analysis'' > from Prentice-Hall? It would be nice to see some recommendations or > reviews posted to this news group. > First of all, the book was actually written by Peter Coad, who used to teach for Yourdon but is now vice president of Object-International, Inc. Edward Yourdon has his name on the book, but he served mainly as a consultant/editor. I was at Peter Coad's tutorial at OOPSLA Tuesday and I saw a loose-leaf copy of the book at the Prentice-Hall booth. In general, the book looks good, certainly the best coverage to date of an elusive subject. But the quality could be better - lots of unnecessary clip art thrown in. Keep in mind that I haven't actaully read the book; these comments are based on the tutorial and a glance at the draft. Some of the good points: 1) A good discussion of the purpose and products of analysis. 2) Mr. Coad has developed helpful "strategies" for each step in the OOA process. These are basically lists of things to look for and questions to ask about the relationships/objects you've identified. 3) A reasonable system of notation which has been used on a couple of large projects. (probably needs some work before it can handle objects with complex states). 4) LOTS of helpful examples/case studies of actual systems. And some shortcomings: 1) Pretty much ignores requirements traceability. I guess Mr. Coad assumed the traceability between objects identified during analysis and those in the design whould be straightforward (basically true), but he doesn't consider the fact that many projects are based on a fixed price contracts for written FUNCTIONAL requirements. There has to be some way to maintain traceability through analysis. 2) WARNING! MY PERSONAL OPINIONS! There seems to be too much emphasis on identifying class (inheritance) relationships (a design/implementation issue). There doesn't seem to be enough emphasis on tracing events through the system and identifying states. Basically, OOA seems to be tailored for systems which clearly model/manage a real-world problem. DISCLAIMER: These are just my personal opinions. No one else here agrees with me...
jima@hplsla.HP.COM (Jim Adcock) (10/07/89)
Hm, we have a little book "Object Oriented Systems Analysis." Is this the same? -- It looks pretty hokey to me when I scan it, but then I'm not a great fan of Yourdon books anyway.....
rdr@mdavcr.UUCP (Randolph Roesler) (10/07/89)
Yes, I read this book several months back when we were starting up a new project (called Yo = Ynot). The book is interesting, but not really a recommender except to people who would like to apply OO techniques to database design. It is surprising the amount of overlap between relation DB theory and object-oriented theorys. The book basically hand holds you through some cute examples of OO problem analysis. The second hafe of the book is a suggested documentation style to use with OO techniques. It was this later part of the book that interested me. Anyways, off the top of my head I would rate the book 7/10. A must for and DP shop, but optional for any body who has already a backround in OO techniques. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's not the size of your signature that Randy Roesler counts - it's how you use it! MacDonald Dettwiler & Assc. email ...!uunet!van-bc!mdavcr!rdr BC Canada 604-278-3411
brown@mrsvr.UUCP (Russ Brown) (10/09/89)
From article <683@mdavcr.UUCP>, by rdr@mdavcr.UUCP (Randolph Roesler): > Yes, I read this book several months back when we were starting up > a new project (called Yo = Ynot). > I think you must be talking about the book, "Object-Oriented Systems Analysis" by Schlaer and Mellor. This WAS primarily a DB analysis book, but it is not the book that started this topic. The book in question here is "OOA - Object-Oriented Analysis" by Peter Coad and Edward Yourdon. You couldn't have read it several months ago because the first copies are being distributed by Prentice-Hall this week. I went to Coad's tutorial at OOPSLA last week and glanced at a draft of the book, and it is a "recommender". I posted more detailed comments on the book/methodology on this newsgroup last Thurday.
weiner@novavax.UUCP (Bob Weiner) (10/17/89)
I also skimmed Coad's OOSA book at OOPSLA89 and attended his tutorial on the same subject. I have to tell people that neither the book nor the man seemed to say anything of note. I feel their is little in the way of texts in this area since OO designers have been happy with the results they have been getting without the need for a strict systems analysis methodology. As OO techniques, see wider usage on larger projects, the need for such a methodology increases. Coad is banking on this need, but, in my opinion, not contributing much. (All other tutorial attendees that I spoke to, about six, felt the same way.) Spend your time reading good OOD books and then work to integrate your own methods of analysis with the design methods until better commercially applicable work becomes available in the area. -- Bob Weiner, Motorola, Inc., USENET: ...!gatech!uflorida!novavax!weiner (407) 738-2087