Some of you may be aware of the Subject-Oriented Programming movement. It follows on the OO movement, but says that the view of an object is closer to the subject than the object. For exmaple, a tree is an object, but when viewed by a bird it has a very different role than when viewed by a lumberjack.

In my family's recent trip to Florida, I became aware that the role of a beach is very much related to the subject observing the beach:

• To my children and to me, the beach is an object full of shells, waves, salt water, running, jumping, swimming, surfing, and fun. Almost all methods invoked on a beach terminate without side-effects and leave the invoker better off than before.
  
• To my mother-in-law, the beach is an object full of jellyfish, man-o'-wars, deadly bacteria, cancerous solar radiation, petroleum distillates, and doom. Almost all methods invoked on a beach throw exceptions thus terminating the invoker.
  

Posted by: ben at January 2, 2003 5:00 PM