Customer Reviews

Using CRC Cards: An Informal Approach to Object-Oriented Development (SIGS: Advances in Object Technology)

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Class, Responsibility, Collaborator (CRC) cards are one of the least technical tools that can be used in software creation. Quite literally, a five-year-old can use them. For they are nothing more than index cards that the members of the design team use to write their notes on the classes, class methods and the relationships between them. Their simple structure and small size mean that they can only be used to sketch the general details of the design. This is an enormous advantage in the initial stages, because it forces the members of the team to maintain a "view from a height." One of the easiest mistakes to make early in the process is to work on implementation details before the fundamental structure has been determined. While no tool will completely prevent that, the use of CRC cards makes it less likely.

In this book Wilkinson describes how CRC cards are used and then steps through a mock session where the application is to create a system to manage a library where patrons check out books. Simple, yet critical aspects such as how many people should be in the design team are mentioned. While some background on object-oriented design is given, the author is to be commended for being as brief as is sensible.

Once the design phase using CRC cards is complete, the next step is to convert the contents of the cards into C++ code. While this may seem simple, it is not. The CRC card will contain only the basic description, so the translation is not a literal one. This section is valuable, not so much for what the actual code is but for the demonstration of the procedures that should be followed in creating it.

CRC cards are by definition not items that will lead to any great depth of design; they are nothing more than an initial tool. A simple, yet powerful community sketchpad, they can be used effectively and Wilkinson does good job in showing you how to do it.

i have read quite a few books about C++, java, OOAD, and UML in the past year, and i find this book provides the best introduction to object modeling. the book is unique because it focuses on a single application - library system, and demonstrates in great depth on how to find the objects and their behavior, how to carry out the analysis, how to do the design by including practical constraints, and provides the source code in C++ at the end. The presentation is very clear, very down to earth, very practical, understandable and not abstract. I am really surprised that there is not a single review about this book. i guess this is probably because the book has been published for quite a few years, and give people the false impression that it is out-of-date. it is really a very nice text.

The book is not too bad in describing the methods used for object oriented design. It goes through step by step on how to create a library program. The only thing I had not liked was that the first 100 pages (~200 page book) was interested in selling how to use the cards in OOD but I wish the author spent more time in translating the program to C++. There is more to OOD than what was offered in the book and less could have been said to convince the reader of the OOP paradigm.