Data Oriented Programming in Java: Chapter 5 Progress (2024-12-15)

Published: 2024-12-15

Current Stats:

• Words: 12,320
• Listings: 50
• Figures Used: 20
• Figures Made: 66
• SLoC (repo): (In progress)

Internal reviews are done. The chapter was well received (hooray!). Lots of useful feedback. This week was spent revising. The main theme was that more of the "why" should be addressed.

This chapter walks through the slow process of converting something that's "already there" into something more data-oriented. We do this much like previous chapters, as a messy, iterative, often backtracking walk through the design process. The individual steps are all there; the feedback was that more time needs spent explaining why we chose to take them.

I'm really looking forward to being done with this chapter. It was unexpectedly the most difficult (I suspect it'll also be the most valuable). It is surprisingly hard to talk about the real-world complexities of programming in a book. The stuff that makes programming hard is subtle and hard to articulate. So much of what we build is constructed out of the debris of other people's design decisions. Chapter 5 is all about recognizing that, and taking back control.

I hope people find it useful.

Plans for next week:

Get the repository into shape and address up any remaining comments. Do some final proof reading, and then it's on to MEAP land.