Object Thinking

1. Object Thinking

Let there be no doubt that object-oriented design is fundamentally different than traditional structured design approaches: it requires a different way of thinking about decomposition, and it produces software architectures that are largely outside the realm of the structured design culture.¹

— Grady Booch

I have three main goals for this initial chapter:

• To begin showing the reader why object thinking is different and important

• To introduce arguments as to why object thinking is particularly valuable to developers hoping to master extreme programming or other agile approaches²

• To explain the emphasis on thinking instead of tools or technique; to explain the relevance and importance of history, philosophy, and metaphor—topics ...