SSWUG-TV
With Stephen Wynkoop
Is your data out of control? Find some helpful tips in this edition of SSWUG-TV where we gather insights from data management experts Thomas LaRock, Sarah Barela and Malathi Mahadevan.
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OOP Basics – Coupling
Yesterday we talked about the cohesion of functions in OO Programming. Cohesion defines how specific a function is to a single task. Today we are going to look at coupling of functions; how functions interact with one another.
Functions interact well together when they are properly coupled; there are no direct dependencies between functions. In a perfect world, the implementation of one function may be changed without impacting the code of a calling function.
As you build member functions using good cohesion practices (breaking down the work into smaller pieces), it becomes more important to losely couple your functions, allowing them to be modified without breaking other depenent functions. Idealy, you should be able to take your functions and plug them together in different orders without un-intended results.
Here are some guidelines for good function coupling:
- Good coupling has few shared connections (parameters)
- On the other hand, in good coupling shared connections are preferred over local, or (God forbid) global variables, because other functions and/or threads may change the state of variables, whereas passed parameters generally remain constant during function execution
- Good coupling provides visibility into the function’s requirements and results. Using global variables does not clearly define requirements for a function to execute correctly, nor the end result of what the function performs
We’ll talk about levels of function coupling tomorrow.
These have been some simple principles for the use of methods in your programs. I’m surprised at the impact this little study has already made on my personal coding techniques. I hope you are finding the same experience. You can let me know what you think by writing in to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
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