An Aristotelian understanding of object-oriented programming

ABSTRACT

The folklore of the object-oriented programming community at times maintains that object-oriented programming has drawn inspiration from philosophy, specifically that of Aristotle. We investigate this relation, first of all, in the hope of attaining a better understanding of object-oriented programming and, secondly, to explain aspects of Aristotelian logic to the computer science research community (since it differs from first order predicate calculus in a number of important ways). In both respects we endeavour to contribute to the theory of objects, albeit in a more philosophical than mathematical fashion.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

General Terms:
Design, Measurement, Performance, Theory