Data Centric Versus Behavior Centric Thinking

Some have concluded that OO is about behavior-centric thinking, but I have gradually leaned further toward DataCentricThinking, which is probably one of the reasons I have distaste for OO. Past attempts to explore this issue were deleted for some reason. I am curious about behavior-centric thinkers and would still like to explore it, hopefully without another shouting match. Let's try to focus on the psychology of our minds without getting into value judgments about which psychology is the "best". -- top

It doesn't matter how I think. Programming is not data entry. Programming is the creation of new behavior. -- EricHodges

I take exception to that definition. Programming *is* data-entry. However, in past debates with you, we never saw eye-to-eye, and possibly never will. We are stuck in a LaynesLaw loop over DataAndCodeAreTheSameThing.

I dunno, it seems to me that it only makes sense to think about both how data will be structured and will "flow" through a system, and what kinds of operations will be performed upon and using that data during its lifetime. I don't think it's an either-or proposition. And this is precisely what I like about OO; objects are data combined with behavior. -- MikeSmith

Well, I think there are benefits to the separation. Data-managing tools can be optimized for data-centric things, and the same with behavior-managing tools. If you mix them, you drag both down to the lowest-common-denominator. Managing attributes in a code editor is rather ugly and inconsistent in my opinion. (Note, there may be existing topics that describe this complaint, but I cannot find them right now). Further, the relationship between behavior and data is not nearly as tightly-coupled as many here seem to assume in my observation. I don't know where that belief originated from. I generally view behavior and data as a many-to-many relationship in the longer run. The ADT view does not extrapolate to real-world entities for the most part. -- top

If we cannot find some new insight beyond past discussions, then I am all for deleting this topic after about a month or so and moving the content to other topics. -- top

SeparationOfDataAndCode