Changes for page Code Example: Data Structure Style vs. Object Style
Last modified by chrisby on 2024/03/03 17:01
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... ... @@ -1,32 +1,42 @@ 1 +### Use Cases 2 + 3 +This example is intended to demonstrate the extensibility differences between data structures and objects by extending them with 4 + 5 +1. an Area() function (extending behavior) 6 +1. a rectangle type (extending data type) 7 + 1 1 ### Data Structure Style 2 2 3 - type Square struct { 10 + interface GeometricObject {} 11 + 12 + class Square implements GeometricObject { 4 4 length float 5 5 } 6 6 7 - typeCircle struct {16 + class Circle implements GeometricObject { 8 8 radius float 9 9 } 10 10 11 - func Area(g GeometricObject) float {20 + function Circumference(g GeometricObject) float { 12 12 switch type(g): 13 13 case Square: 14 - return g.length * g.length 15 - case Circle: 16 - return PI * g.radius * g.radius 17 - } 18 - 19 - func Circumference(g GeometricObject) float { 20 - switch type(g): 21 - case Square: 22 22 return 4 * g.length 23 23 case Circle: 24 24 return 2 * PI * g.radius 25 25 } 26 26 28 +1. Adding an Area() function with a very similar anatomy to Circumference() is easy because it only requires adding new code. 29 +1. Adding a new datatype, Rectangle, is harder because it requires touching existing code, namely any functions like Circumference() or Area() that need to be enabled handle this datatype. 30 + 31 +#### 32 + 27 27 #### Object-Oriented Style 28 28 29 - class Square { 35 + interface GeometricObject { 36 + Circumference() float 37 + } 38 + 39 + class Square implements GeometricObject { 30 30 length float 31 31 32 32 constructor(length float) { ... ... @@ -33,16 +33,12 @@ 33 33 this.length = length 34 34 } 35 35 36 - func Area() float { 37 - return this.length * this.length 38 - } 39 - 40 40 func Circumference() float { 41 41 return 4 * this.length 42 42 } 43 43 } 44 44 45 - class Circle { 51 + class Circle implements GeometricObject { 46 46 radius float 47 47 48 48 constructor(radius float) { ... ... @@ -49,11 +49,15 @@ 49 49 this.radius = radius 50 50 } 51 51 52 - func Area() float { 53 - return PI * this.radius * this.radius 54 - } 55 - 56 56 func Circumference() float { 57 57 return 2 * PI * this.radius 58 58 } 59 59 } 62 + 63 +1. Adding a function Area() to the GeometricObject interface is hard because it requires touching existing code, namely extending all Square and Circle classes with the new function. 64 +1. Adding a new datatype, Rectangle, is easy because only new code is added, namely a Rectangle class. 65 + 66 +### Conclusion 67 + 68 +* The lesson learned here is that data structures are easy to extend with functions, and objects are easy to extend with data types. 69 +* Although the difference between the two styles may seem insignificant in this simplified example, it has serious implications in complex production codebases with multiple data types and behaviors.