Object-Oriented Thought Process, The, Second Edition

Code: To Reuse or Not to Reuse?

You have probably heard people singing the praises of code reuse since you took your first computer class or wrote your first line of code. Some people consider code reuse to be the savior of the software development community. Since the dawn of computer software, the concept of reusing code has been reinvented several times. The OO paradigm is no different. One of the major advantages touted by OO proponents is that you can write code once, and then reuse it to your heart's content.

This is true to a certain degree. As with all design approaches, the utility and the reusability of code depends on how well it was designed and implemented. OO design does not hold the patent on code reuse. There is nothing stopping ...