On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 kristoff.bonne / compaqnet.nospam.be wrote:

> Ruby seams like a nice place to start (I now mainly use perl and
> -some- tcl/tk), but I am -first- looking for a good book on 
> OO-programming itself. (Not really the language, but the basic
> 'way of thinking' of OO).

Here is a off the beaten track suggestion.

We all can get books on OOPS and then try programming in an OOP fashion.
We then (if we're self-critical) left with a vaguely empty feeling....
"Did I do that right?"

Now there is a book "Refactoring" by Martin Fowler.

The idea in this book is not "teach yourself OOPS" it is "how to recognise
when your code stinks and what to do about it".

So, my suggestion is, read enough on OOPS to get more or less the idea and
the terminology.

Write something in an OOPS fashion (preferably "write unit test-first
coding")

Critique it using the "Code smells" section of "Refactoring". 

Refactor away the smells.

I bet you you will come away understanding more about OOPS than someone
who had a formal course on it.

John Carter

Work Email : john / netsys.co.za Private email : cyent / mweb.co.za 
Yell Phone : 083-543-6915      Phone         : 27-12-348-4246

Carter's Compass...

   I know I'm on the right track when by deleting code I'm adding
   functionality.