CS 4448 - Spring 1998
Object-Oriented Programming and Design
Talk 2.2.1
by
Adam J. Griff
Object Technology and Reuse: Lessons from Early
Adopters
by
Robert G. Fichman and Chris F. Kemerer
- Overview - This paper studies 4 companies who adopted OO early
using languages such as C++ or Smalltalk.
- The study was conducted from 1992 to 1996.
- All 4 sights encountered barriers - learning its use and dealing
with the immaturity of the OO paradigm and related tools.
- Achieving systematic reuse was a problem.
- The paper contains nice tables which breaks down company
information: Prior Envr. Primary adoption triggers, approach, etc...
- High complexity of OO, low compatibility with existing methods,
low incremental trial-ability, and low observability of benefits make
it hard to convince companies to make the switch to OO.
- The investments in OO are irreversible and it must take on the
existing well-entrenched technology.
EnergyCo
- Used Smalltalk development environment starting in 1989
- Goal in selecting OO was to avoid playing catch up in the future
- They were willing to spend money on training
- Focused on prototyping
- A small portion of the project was a success but the company had
unrelated problems that effected success.
BankCo
FinCo
BrokerCo
Many interesting quotes from the interviews
between the authors and the companies.
- I should put them here.
- "We can teach everyone here how to program in C, but it's the way
of thinking {that's hard]"
Adoption Challenges
- Organizational learning - It was hard for the group to get up to
speed in the use of the OO paradigm. The Smalltalk group took longer
to get anything done but then had an epiphany while the C++ people may
not have made the transition to the OO paradigm.
- Technological Immaturity - A major challenge for early adopters
- Reuse - It is not automatically achieved by C++ but must be
incorporated into the design
- Limit initial development - Choice a small project that you are
willing to have fail
Adam Jonathan Griff,
computer@griffmonster.com
Copyright © University of Colorado. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 26, 1998