Object-Oriented Software Construction (Book/CD-ROM) (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Bertrand Meyer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0136291554 | ISBN-13: 978-0136291558 | Publication Date: March 21, 2000 | Edition: 2nd

This is, quite simply, the definitive reference on the most important development in software technology for the last 20 years: object-orientation.A whole generation was introduced to object technology through the first edition of this book. This long-awaited new edition retains the qualities of clarity, practicality and scholarship that made the first an instant best-seller, but has been thoroughly revised and expanded. Among the new topics covered in depth are: Concurrency, distribution, client/server and the Internet; object-oriented databases; design by contract; fundamental design patterns; finding classes; the use and misuse of inheritance; abstract data types; and typing issues. The book also includes completely updated discussions of reusability, modularity, software quality, object-oriented languages, memory management, and many other essential topics.All software developers and computer science students, worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The developer of the acclaimed Eiffel programming language comes through with one of the clearest and most informative books about computers ever committed to paper. Object-Oriented Software Construction is the gospel of object-oriented technology and it deserves to be spread everywhere. Meyer opens with coverage of the need for an object-oriented approach to software development, citing improved quality and development speed as key advantages of the approach. He then explains all the key criteria that define an object- oriented approach to a problem. Meyer pays attention to techniques, such as classes, objects, memory management, and more, returning to each technique and polishing his readers' knowledge of it as he explains how to employ it "well." In a section on advanced topics, Meyer explores interesting and relevant topics, such as persistent objects stored in a database. He also offers a sort of "Do and Don't" section in which he enumerates common mistakes and ways to avoid them. Management information isn't the main point of Object-Oriented Software Construction, but you'll find some in its pages. Meyer concludes his tour de force with comparisons of all the key object-oriented languages, including Java. He also covers the potential of simulating object technology in non-object-oriented languages, such as Pascal and Fortran. The companion CD-ROM includes the full text of this book in hypertext form, as well as some tools for designing object-oriented systems. If you program computers, you need to read this book.

From the Publisher

The comprehensive reference on all aspects of object technology, from design principles to O-O techniques, Design by Contract, O-O analysis, concurrency, persistence, abstract data types and many more. Written by a pioneer in the field, contains an in-depth analysis of both methodological and technical issues. Comes with a CD-ROM containing: the complete hyperlinked text, for easy reference; software to read the text on major industry platforms; supplementary material (reusable components, mathematical complements); and a complete graphical O-O development environment supporting the concepts of the book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1296 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2nd edition (March 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0136291554
• ISBN-13: 978-0136291558
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #517,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bertrand Meyer is Chief Architect of Eiffel Software (based in California, http://eiffel.com) and Professor of Software Engineering at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

He is the initial designer of the Eiffel method and language and has continued to participate in its evolution. He also directed the development of the EiffelStudio environment, compiler, tools and libraries through their successive versions.

His latest book, Touch of Class: Learning to Program Well, Using Object Technology and Contracts, is based on several years of teaching introductory programming at ETH and is scheduled for publication on August 9, published by Springer Verlag (see Amazon page and Springer page).

Earlier books include "Object-Oriented Software Construction" (a general presentation of object technology, winner of the 1998 Jolt Award); "Eiffel: The Language" (description of the Eiffel language); "Object Success" (a discussion of object technology for managers); "Reusable Software" (a discussion of reuse issues and solutions); "Introduction to the Theory of Programming Languages". He has also authored numerous articles (see publication list) and edited or co-edited several dozen conference proceedings, including the 2005 "Verified Software".

Other activities include: chair of the TOOLS conference series (running since 1989, hosted at ETH since 2007, next year session in Malaga, Spain); director of the LASER summer school on software engineering (taking place every year since 2003 in early September in Elba island, Italy); member, and chair since 2009, of the IFIP TC2 committee (Software technology); member of the IFIP Working Group 2.3 on Programming Methodology; member of the French Academy of Technologies. He is also active as a consultant (object-oriented system design, architectural reviews, technology assessment), trainer in object technology and other software topics, and conference speaker. Awards include ACM Software System Award, Fellow of the ACM, Dahl-Nygaard Prize, and honorary doctorate from the Technical University (ITMO) of Saint Petersburg.

Prior to founding Eiffel Software in 1985, Meyer had a 9-year technical and managerial career at EDF, and was for three years on the faculty at the University of California. His experience with object technology through the Simula language, as well as early work on abstract data types and formal specification (including participation in the first versions of the Z specification language) provided some of the background for the development of Eiffel.

At ETH Zurich he pursues research on the construction of high-quality software (see Web site of the Chair of Software Engineering at http://se.ethz.ch).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't be put off by some aspects of this book..., February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Object-Oriented Software Construction (Book/CD-ROM) (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

A couple of aspects of this book might lead you *not* to read it. That would be too bad, since it contains valuable informaton. Specifically:

(1) it spends a lot of time discussing particulars of the Eiffel language or the considerations leading Meyer to design Eiffel as he did. Observation: Even if you skip these parts, you could find useful information in the rest of the book, and many people may enjoy these insights into Meyer's approach.

(2) the attitude is often rather dogmatic and judgmental. As one authority commented on the first edition, it "tends to confuse Eiffel with universal principles." Observation: though unfortunate, this does not detract from the value of the content.

Further comments:

(3) If you don't know any object oriented language, the book is a natural choice, since it is very clear and does not require prior knowledge of any particular language.

(4) If you know another OO language, especially C++, you may get more for your time and money by choosing another book, at least to start. But you still could find valuable material here. For alternatives, you might check out the comments on Gamma's Design Patterns and Martin's Designing Object-Oriented C++ Applications: Using the Booch Method, or standard books by Booch, etc.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it again, August 17, 1999

By 

Raphael Manfredi - See all my reviews

This review is from: Object-Oriented Software Construction (Book/CD-ROM) (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

The greatest achievement of this book is to show you, the reader, how easy, straightforward and appealing the OO technology is... once you have overcome the natural reaction of thinking it is "obvious".

Hence my advice is to read it once, put it aside, and re-read it again.

Learning OO efficiently means forgetting what you know (or think you know) about OO and trying to follow the Author's idea, and how his views on software engineering interact. You don't have to agree with the Author right away to learn from him.

Of course, not everyone can use Eiffel. But only the concepts matter, not their actual implementation. And if you think this book's leitmotiv is "Look how Eiffel is the purest language that embodies all the necessary concepts" (how convenient!), then recall that Eiffel indeed started as a notation and only evolved towards an implementation after the fundamental concepts were layed down. Therefore, no wonder Eiffel seems a natural fit!

The audience for this book is any experienced (5 years or more) software engineer, or software architects, whith an experience in designing complex systems and making them evolve over time. Some technical background is required though, otherwise you may only see things superficially and miss the underlying gems.

Remember that OO is not a static technology, so to speak. Its natural support for encapsulation and evolution is what makes it an ideal technology in today's modern software management.

Read this book again!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended as a first introduction to OOP, May 27, 2005

By 

Todd Ebert (Long Beach California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Object-Oriented Software Construction (Book/CD-ROM) (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

When writing a treatise on computer programming one has to strike a balance between providing a book that is both useful (which usually means writing within the context of a compilable programming language), but general enough so as not to oversimplify or truncate parts of the theory because it is not represented by the chosen language. In OOSC2 Meyer does just this, by providing a sound and general introduction to object-oriented programming, while using the Eiffel language for purposes of notation and practical programming examples.

Meyer has a very engaging writing style: very clear, with lots of good (and humorous : ) examples. And the Eiffel language itself seems quite simple, readable (it was obviously influenced by ADA) and brilliantly designed (think of Java, but with multiple inheritance, generics, and without the run-time inefficiency of the java virtual machine).
But whether you program in Eiffel, Java, C#, or C++, OOPSC2 has alot to offer in terms of OO software design, and a good understanding of the issues behind inheritance, polymorphism, the importance of static typing, and dynamic binding.

For example, I program in C++, and this book has helped me clearly understand the object-oriented features of the language, because in clearly explaining the principles, it helped me understand the intentions of the C++ language designers.

May be my only complaint, at perhaps half a star, is the fact that Meyer often weighs in heavily against other languages for their shortcomings, while going easy on his own Eiffel language. For example, he failed to give an objective analysis regarding the run-time costs of garbage collection. Indeed, the chapter on garbage collection seemed more of handwaving defense of the fact that Eiffel uses this technology. A presentation of run-time empirical studies for various applications would have been much more welcomed. However I believe that the benefits of this book far outweigh the occasional partisanship shown towards Eiffel. I truely believe that Meyer favors Eiffel because he believes in it more on the basis of principle than on profit (he does own a software company that supports Eiffel development tools).