🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug25.133146.21009@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>  
ede978e@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (Robert D. Nicholson) writes:
> I'm studying how Reuse is implemented in NextStep
> specifically how one can strucutre an application such
> that the represenation of the view/interface is
> competely indepentent of the application's
> functionality.  For instance if an application wished to
> switch its interface from graphical to text or vice versa
> or both how one would structure this using NeXTStep and
> Interface Builder, it seems that most applications are
> tied directly into interface builder.  ie. the
> functional component of the code messages IB outlets to
> maintain application state.  Has anybody every designed
> something that was totally separate from IB?  If so Id like
> to hear about it.
> 

Well, I think kits like the Indexing Kit and the DBKit
(or at least parts of it) are beautiful examples of reuse
in the appkit which is independent of the UI.  There 
are loads of others.

With the addition of protocols in 3.0 Objective-C, we 
now have tools which greatly facilitate the reuse of 
_interface_, versus the reuse of implementation.

From the release notes, (without permission:)

"Protocols allow you to organize related method into
groups that form high-level behaviors. This gives
library builders a tool to identifiy sets of standard
protocols, independent of the class hierarchy.
Protocols provide language support for the reuse of
design (i.e. interface), whereas classes support the
reuse of code (i.e. implementation). Well designed
protocols can help users of an application framework
when learning or designing new classes."

However, one reason (IMHO) that apps tie in tightly
with InterfaceBuilder is because it is so easy to
do.  Designing for reuse it not always the primary
goal when building an application (ever heard of
rabid prototyping? :-)
-- 
Chris Walters			10600 Arrowhead Dr., Suite 350
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