PREFACE vii unconstrained;information hiding;assertions;safe exception handling;automatic garbage collection.Efficient implementation techniques have been developed which permit applying these ideas successfully to both small and large projects under the tight constraints of commercial software development.Object-oriented techniques have also had a considerable impact on user interfaces and development environments,making it possible to produce much better interactive systems than was possible before.All these important ideas will be studied in detail,so as to equip the reader with tools that are immediately applicable to a wide range of problems. Organization of the text In the pages that follow we will review the methods and techniques of object-oriented software construction.The presentation has been divided into six parts. Chapters I to 2. Part A is an introduction and overview.It starts by exploring the fundamental issue of software quality and continues with a brief survey of the method's main technical characteristics.This part is almost a little book by itself,providing a first view of the object-oriented approach for hurried readers. Chapters 3 to 6. Part B is not hurried.Entitled "The road to object orientation",it takes the time to describe the methodological concems that lead to the central O-O concepts.Its focus is on modularity:what it takes to devise satisfactory structures for "in-the-large"system construction.It ends with a presentation of abstract data types,the mathematical basis for object technology.The mathematics involved is elementary,and less mathematically inclined readers may content themselves with the basic ideas,but the presentation provides the theoretical background that you will need for a full understanding of O-O principles and issues. Chapters 7 to 18. Part C is the technical core of the book.It presents,one by one,the central technical components of the method:classes;objects and the associated run-time model;memory management issues;genericity and typing;design by contract,assertions,exceptions; inheritance,the associated concepts of polymorphism and dynamic binding,and their many exciting applications. Chapters 19 to 29. Part D discusses methodology,with special emphasis on analysis and design. Through several in-depth case studies,it presents some fundamental design patterns,and covers such central questions as how to find the classes,how to use inheritance properly, and how to design reusable libraries.It starts with a meta-level discussion of the intellectual requirements on methodologists and other advice-givers;it concludes with a review of the software process (the lifecycle model)for O-0 development and a discussion of how best to teach the method in both industry and universities. Chapters 30 to 32. Part E explores advanced topics:concurrency,distribution,client-server development and the Internet;persistence,schema evolution and object-oriented databases;the design of interactive systems with modern("GUI")graphical interfaces.PREFACE vii unconstrained; information hiding; assertions; safe exception handling; automatic garbage collection. Efficient implementation techniques have been developed which permit applying these ideas successfully to both small and large projects under the tight constraints of commercial software development. Object-oriented techniques have also had a considerable impact on user interfaces and development environments, making it possible to produce much better interactive systems than was possible before. All these important ideas will be studied in detail, so as to equip the reader with tools that are immediately applicable to a wide range of problems. Organization of the text In the pages that follow we will review the methods and techniques of object-oriented software construction. The presentation has been divided into six parts. Part A is an introduction and overview. It starts by exploring the fundamental issue of software quality and continues with a brief survey of the method’s main technical characteristics. This part is almost a little book by itself, providing a first view of the object-oriented approach for hurried readers. Part B is not hurried. Entitled “The road to object orientation”, it takes the time to describe the methodological concerns that lead to the central O-O concepts. Its focus is on modularity: what it takes to devise satisfactory structures for “in-the-large” system construction. It ends with a presentation of abstract data types, the mathematical basis for object technology. The mathematics involved is elementary, and less mathematically inclined readers may content themselves with the basic ideas, but the presentation provides the theoretical background that you will need for a full understanding of O-O principles and issues. Part C is the technical core of the book. It presents, one by one, the central technical components of the method: classes; objects and the associated run-time model; memory management issues; genericity and typing; design by contract, assertions, exceptions; inheritance, the associated concepts of polymorphism and dynamic binding, and their many exciting applications. Part D discusses methodology, with special emphasis on analysis and design. Through several in-depth case studies, it presents some fundamental design patterns, and covers such central questions as how to find the classes, how to use inheritance properly, and how to design reusable libraries. It starts with a meta-level discussion of the intellectual requirements on methodologists and other advice-givers; it concludes with a review of the software process (the lifecycle model) for O-O development and a discussion of how best to teach the method in both industry and universities. Part E explores advanced topics: concurrency, distribution, client-server development and the Internet; persistence, schema evolution and object-oriented databases; the design of interactive systems with modern (“GUI”) graphical interfaces. Chapters 1 to 2. Chapters 3 to 6. Chapters 7 to 18. Chapters 19 to 29. Chapters 30 to 32