Approaches Methods And Practices
Approaches Methods And PracticesApproaches Methods and Practices
Comparison of Terms - Approaches Methods and Practices
There is often confusion on the meaning of the three action words used in the title of this page. Some consider the words to be very similar, while others think that there is much to distinguish them from each other. Here is a brief comparison of meanings:
approach
Is a formulation adopted when tackling a problem. Example: "his approach to every problem is to draw up a list of pros and cons" Also: attack, plan of attack]
method
Is An orderly procedure or process in which one determines a regular manner of doing anything; Or put another way a manner; a way; a mode. Example: a method of teaching languages; a method of improving the mind.
practice
That which one does as a habitual or customary action or act.
An approach/method/practice can differ from another approach/method/practice.
Approach
Approaches are quite different in the following ways:
All approaches have "X" as a desire, and have a goal in mind. It would be a GoodThing/BadThing if this were so. All approaches do not have "X" as a desire.
Some approaches include a wide range of options, others do not.
An approach: Is flexible, adaptive, not necessarily time-critical, can be reached by any number of people or enterprises (there is not just one winner), may be reached using a myriad of paths, resources and mechanisms, and may be reached while seeking other goals simultaneously.
An Approach can be said to be an inclusive network of plans, ideas, methods, practices, and implementations which are applied to a directed process.
An approach includes an Overall as well as immediate aspect, and is defined as the sum of the parts. A total approach success is necessarily composed of many smaller components.
ObjectOriented Approach - ExtremeProgramming Approach
Approaches have many possible paths to the desired result.
Methods can be described and defined, approaches are more difficult to state in concise and exact terms.
Practices are less prescriptive than approaches in that one practice can be used in place of another at the discretion of the practitioner with little or no loss in effectiveness.
From the page on ObjectOrientedProgramming - Programming as a mental model:
I propose that ProgrammingIsInTheMind, and that ObjectOrientedProgramming is one of many mental models that assist a programmer's thinking. I agree that dogmatic statements about what is and what is not OO are generally useless. I think a more useful discussion would endeavor to discover the various concepts used by programmers, then evaluate them for their costs and benefits and how they interact with each other. As I said elsewhere, I think the various concepts are better modeled on a continuous scale rather than a boolean (Is/Not OO, Good/Bad, Like/Dislike).
See
Contributors: DonaldNoyes.20070830 & 200810290845
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