posted 19 years ago
Say you had a customer index file that registered what products were owned by customers, and a whole set of product files that had product details, like what color and size and other options they ordered.
The first call to create a new product from database data might not read the database at all. It builds an empty shell of a product object. The second call to getOwner() might read the customer index to populate owner fields. And the last call to getSize() might read the product file to populate product fields.
I'm makin this up as I go, so it's not a great looking example. But you get the idea that it may be expensive to get some of the data so we only fetch the data if a client asks for it.
Thinking about it, I've seen something like this with browsing. Maybe you only have to display customer name and product type in the browse products window. You could build Product objects with only this much data. Then when the user selects one product from the list and you want to show all the details, the Product object would know to fetch the rest of the data.
Any of that help?
A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of the idea. John Ciardi