CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++oopdesign-patternscomponents
askmish
askmish

Reputation: 6674

An idea about componentization in C++

I have been trying to understand componentization(contrasting to the OOP concepts and also called component oriented programming), in relation to C++.

I have researched regarding this on internet but there were very little structured information available. The windows COM object seems pretty componentized. I have found http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ComponentDefinition useful.

What could be the best and simple C++ code example, to illustrate the componentization concept?

I have a few high level ideas,like:

  1. I have an English word. A word is made up of several symbols or characters. Now, each character can be of several types like alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, whitespace, etc. So, each alphabet,number,etc. represent the fundamental components, based on which, a word will be formed and will come into existence. The word becomes an aggregate component(of symbols), based on which a sentence will be formed and so on.

  2. The protons, neutrons and electrons are individual agrregate components which form an atom.

Then, how is composite design pattern different from the componentization concept?

Please guide me. Thanks.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 446

Answers (1)

PermanentGuest
PermanentGuest

Reputation: 5331

'Composite' as you mentioned is a design pattern. A design pattern is a problem-solution pair applicable during the design of a piece of software.

If I understand your interpretation of the term 'componentization' correctly, it is an architectural princicple which is followed in a higher abstraction level than the design to define the structure of the SW.

(If you are interested in precisely what I mean by architecture, please refer this paper which tries to define the terms design/architecture formally.)

If you get slightly more deep, 'Composite' helps to treat the container and the contents with the same interface. e.g, if you apply 'composite' pattern in your example, you could define an interface 'particle' and then can treat atom/electron/proton/neutron as particles and at the same time the container/content relationship is also maintained. This is a very specific problem-solution pair which can arise only in certain situations.

However, 'Componentization' can be applicable in more broader situations and you are not bothered if there is any container-content relationship in the first place. Even if there is such a relationship between the components, you don't care to treat them with the same interface.

Upvotes: 1

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