Object-Oriented Technologies - Essay Example

05 July 2007 Object-Oriented Technologies Object-oriented technologies include such broad areas of research as software engineering and programming languages, oriented programming and development, human computer interfaces and grid computing. In object-oriented technologies, a programmer determines not only the data structure and type of technology but technological structure and functions which can be applied to different environments. According to Meyer, the object-oriented techniques are 'classes, objects, genericity, concurrency, persistence and design by contract" (776).

The main advantage of object-oriented technologies is that they allow to add some new technologies but do not need to change the object. "An object is a representation of a real-life entity or abstraction" (Object-Oriented Analysis 2007). The main languages used in object-oriented technologies are C++, Smalltalk , Java, Eiffel. Languages like Modula-3 and Oberon are interesting to the language designer, but according to theory, they fall far short of Pascal in terms of acceptability. C++ is an interesting case because it is an attempt to develop C in a particular direction.

This direction is not, by the way, an object-oriented direction but one that allows two things: more sophisticated user-defined types than is possible in C (something resembling abstract data types with encapsulation) and a little more safety from type errors and some other errors. Also, object-oriented technology involves such features as: 'modularity, reusability, towards object technology, different abstract data types" (Meyer 334). Object-oriented languages gain their power from compression, which can lead to compact, efficiently expressed programs.

Compression, though, can present problems if it is prematurely used. A vivid example of these technologies is human-machine interface simulator. The human-machine interface simulator has a kind of on-line object-oriented database model that describes the hierarchical structure of man-machine interface equipment. The dynamic changes of various sensors and actuators in the man-machine interface system can be simulated by rewriting the corresponding attributes of the instrumentation and controls equipment in the object-oriented database in accordance with the dynamic changes of both the plant simulator and the human model simulator.

The on-line object-oriented database of the man-machine interface can be constructed easily by using a special graphic editor with icons. The object-oriented technologies are based on analysis of the data. In this case, "the information or object model contains the definition of objects in the system, which includes: the object name, the object attributes, and object relationships to other objects" (Object-Oriented Analysis 2007). Some other devices move or deform to simulate the shapes of virtual objects.

Users can physically contact the surface of the virtual object. The new interface devices are also based on object-oriented technologies. Deformation of the screen converts the two-dimensional image from the projector into a solid image. The main factors of object-oriented programming include "correctness, robustness, extendibility and reusability" (Meyer 557). In sum, a goal of object-oriented technologies is to guide technological design to optimize interactions between human operators and the systems they use.

Thus, the design of machines, tools, interfaces, and other sorts of devices utilizes knowledge about the characteristics, capabilities, as well as limitations, of the object-oriented system. As technology has continued to advance, the relatively simple mouse and graphical displays have begun to give way to exploration of complex gestural interfaces and virtual environments. The main benefit of object-oriented technologies is that they can increase productivity through object-oriented technologies languages and design techniques.

Works Cited 1. Meyer, B. Object-oriented Software Construction. Prentice Hall, 2nd edn. 2000. 2. Object-Oriented Analysis. 2007.