This is not an obituary for object oriented programming, nor do I think that I have to write one any time soon. This is a post to rally the fanatics, the converted and the blessed to do something about the state of OOP in our community.
At Developer Summit last year Joakim Sundén talked about the ethics in our line of business, or rather the lack there of, and how there is a vast amount of developers that just don't care about the quality of their code. With arguments like "I don't have time to do OOP" or "OOP looks good on paper but in real life it won't work" is not uncommon and are tightly coupled with solutions built on transaction scripts and huge methods (and often in companion with the same arguments coupled with other trade skills like documentation, tests and basic software engineer practices).
My feeling is that the "I don't have time to do OOP" really means "I don't have time to learn OOP" and this is even more serious. The moment we as developers stop perfecting our skills, that's the moment where the industry is in danger and the moment where the industry starts accepting bad quality, expensive maintenance and code that's disconnected from the business. Should we take this? Should we let the laziness of some developers set a mark of shame for the whole trade?
I for sure won't!
It's time to rally resistance against these lazy developers, rally against their unwillingness to perfect their skill in the trade, rally against ludicrous arguments that in some circles are treated as, and sold to clients, as truths.
I call upon the developers that think that the trade is worth a better faith to start to meet this cancer wherever it shows it's ugly face. It's to easy to sigh and say "they just don't get it and I don't have the time nor energy to make them". Stop, make your voices heard, take your responsibility for the over all view of our trade.
And Remember:
"All that is required for the triumph of evil, is for good people to remain silent and do nothing"
Now go out and evangelize, strike down wherever evil surfaces and make damn sure that ethics, long-term quality and the willingness to perfect ones skills will be the ruling mentality in our line of trade.
Do not stay silent!
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