Traditional vs. Object-Oriented Approaches

Object-oriented approaches to software development are an important expansion of procedural approaches. Java explicitly supports both approaches, but you should focus on the object-oriented approach. This article compares the two approaches and explains the fundamentals of each.

2. Introduction

All software, especially large pieces of software produced by many people, should be produced using some kind of methodology. Even small pieces of software developed by one person can be improved by keeping a methodology in mind. A methodology is a systematic way of doing things. It is a repeatable process that we can follow from the earliest stages of software development through to the maintenance of an installed system. As well as the process, a methodology should specify what we‟re expected to produce as we follow the process. A methodology will also include recommendation or techniques for resource management, planning, scheduling and other management tasks. Good, widely available methodologies are essential for a mature software industry.

A good methodology will address at least the following issues: Planning, Scheduling, Resourcing, Workflows, Activities, Roles, Artifacts, Education. There are a number of phases common to every development, regardless of methodology, starting with requirements capture and ending with maintenance. During the last few decades a number of software development models have been proposed and discussed within the Software Engineering community. With the traditional approach, you‟re expected to move forward gracefully from one phase to the other. With the modern approach, on the other hand, you‟re allowed to perform each phase more than once and in any order [1, 10].