Janea Taylor – COMPUTERS ARE FUN!

There are advantages as well as disadvantages to using either structured programming languages or object-oriented languages when developing an application. One of the more popular structured programming languages is known as Pascal (Wikipedia – Structured Programming, 2005). Pascal is often used to help teach programming to students in an educational format (Wikipedia – Pascal, 2005). In general terms, a structured programming language is laid out in a series of explicit statements and does not generally contain commands which redirect the execution of statements to other areas of the program (Wikipedia – Pascal, 2005). In comparison, object-oriented languages often contain a set of reusable modular components, which can be called to execute at various points throughout the program, without having to be completely rewritten. Some of the more popular object-oriented languages include Java and C++ (Wikipedia – Object-oriented Programming, 2005).

There is an advantage to using structured programming when writing classes and complex functions are not necessary. It can take up more time and energy to develop classes rather than simply write a straightforward piece of code, which executes a specific set of commands. It depends on what the overall purpose of the program is. One of the main disadvantages to using a structured programming language versus an object-oriented language is that it is not ‘modular’. In other words, the code is not split up into reusable sections. The code is written and executed sequentially; therefore you may have redundant code. It may take longer to develop programs using structured language (What Is Object-oriented Programming?, 2000).

One of the advantages to using object-oriented programming languages is that it is modular. It is possible to write a reusable piece of code, such as a function or a class, which can be used multiple times throughout a program without having to rewrite it (Cashman, Shelly, & Vermaat, 2004, p. 405). This can save the developer much time and effort in the development process. One of the possible disadvantages to using an object-oriented programming language is its sheer complexity. It is not typically recommended to use object-oriented languages when developing smaller, less complex programs or programs that are built to run on low powered computers (What Is Object-oriented Programming?, 2000).

Considering the potential complexity of a filing system application, it would probably be recommended to use object-oriented technology. Also, being that application development using object-oriented languages can be done faster, this might save the developer’s time so that they could deliver the program to the client sooner (Cashman et al., 2004, p. 405).

References:

Cashman, T.J., Shelly, G.B, & Vermaat, M. E. (2004). Discovering Computers: Fundamentals editions. Boston: Course Technology

What Is Object-oriented Programming?. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2005 from http://duramecho.com/ComputerInformation/WhatIsObjectOrientedProgramming.html

Wikipedia – Object-oriented Programming. (2005) Retrieved December 2, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming

Wikipedia – Pascal. (2005) Retrieved December 2, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_programming_language

Wikipedia – Structured Programming. (2005) Retrieved December 2, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured_programming