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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... ... @@ -7,15 +7,17 @@ 7 7 8 8 ### Data Structure Style 9 9 10 - type Square struct { 10 + interface GeometricObject {} 11 + 12 + class Square implements GeometricObject { 11 11 length float 12 12 } 13 13 14 - typeCircle struct {16 + class Circle implements GeometricObject { 15 15 radius float 16 16 } 17 17 18 - func Circumference(g Object) float { 20 + function Circumference(g GeometricObject) float { 19 19 switch type(g): 20 20 case Square: 21 21 return 4 * g.length ... ... @@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ 23 23 return 2 * PI * g.radius 24 24 } 25 25 26 -1. 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. 27 27 28 28 #### 29 29 ... ... @@ -56,3 +56,11 @@ 56 56 return 2 * PI * this.radius 57 57 } 58 58 } 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.