[Lazarus] OOP - where do you start?

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

>   When faced with a new database related project, where do you start? Do
> you first design the database schema, then build the BOM (Business
> Objects) accordingly? Or, do you first design the BOM, then design the
> database schema to fit.

I'd suggest that the answer to that varies, in part depending on the 
type of program.

In the case of a business (or logging etc.) program where a database 
might have multiple "client" programs, possibly written by different 
people in different languages, then the principle of top-down design 
suggests that you start with the schema.

In the case of a program which is using a database for private backend 
storage and as a configuration registry, then top-down design suggests 
that schema design might be an ad-hoc activity at a low priority with 
(at least) a UI mockup done first.

However a common feature is that in both cases a developer would do well 
to make an early decision as to whether e.g. new rows replace existing 
ones or are appended, whether e.g. modifications are timestamped and 
branded with a user ID, and so on. Which suggests that there are some 
invariant activities which can usefully be done as soon as it's decided 
to use a database, and possibly before the database implementation is 
even selected.

-- 
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]