In software development, the yo-yo problem is an anti-pattern that occurs when a programmer has to read and understand a program whose inheritance graph is so long and complicated that the programmer has to keep flipping between many different class definitions in order to follow the control flow of the program. It is most often seen in the context of object-oriented programming. The term comes from comparing the bouncing attention of the programmer to the up-down movement of a toy yo-yo. Taenzer, Ganti, and Podar described the problem by name, explaining: "Often we get the feeling of riding a yoyo when we try to understand one of these message trees."[1]
Most practices of object-oriented programming recommend keeping the inheritance graph as shallow as possible, in part to avoid this problem. The use of composition instead of inheritance is also strongly preferred, although this still requires that a programmer keep multiple class definitions in mind at once.
More generally, the yo-yo problem can also refer to any situation where a person must keep flipping between different sources of information in order to understand a concept.
There are several code refactor techniques to flatten these hierarchies without compromising the overall behavior.
Object-oriented design techniques such as documenting layers of the inheritance hierarchy can reduce the effect of this problem, as they collect in one place the information that the programmer is required to understand.
^Taenzer, David; Ganti, Murthy; Podar, Sunil (1989). "Problems in Object-Oriented Software Reuse" (PDF). ECOOP 89: Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, 1989. Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
^"Code Smell 11 - Subclassification for Code Reuse". hashnode. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
March 04, 2023
problem, software, development, problem, anti, pattern, that, occurs, when, programmer, read, understand, program, whose, inheritance, graph, long, complicated, that, programmer, keep, flipping, between, many, different, class, definitions, order, follow, cont. In software development the yo yo problem is an anti pattern that occurs when a programmer has to read and understand a program whose inheritance graph is so long and complicated that the programmer has to keep flipping between many different class definitions in order to follow the control flow of the program It is most often seen in the context of object oriented programming The term comes from comparing the bouncing attention of the programmer to the up down movement of a toy yo yo Taenzer Ganti and Podar described the problem by name explaining Often we get the feeling of riding a yoyo when we try to understand one of these message trees 1 Most practices of object oriented programming recommend keeping the inheritance graph as shallow as possible in part to avoid this problem The use of composition instead of inheritance is also strongly preferred although this still requires that a programmer keep multiple class definitions in mind at once Deep hierarchies are a code smell and a symptom of sub classification for code reuse 2 More generally the yo yo problem can also refer to any situation where a person must keep flipping between different sources of information in order to understand a concept There are several code refactor techniques to flatten these hierarchies without compromising the overall behavior Object oriented design techniques such as documenting layers of the inheritance hierarchy can reduce the effect of this problem as they collect in one place the information that the programmer is required to understand See also EditDesign Patterns Introduction Chapter 1 Complexity What it means for a system of any sort to be complex Hrair limit The suggestion that humans can entertain at most approximately seven concepts at once Implementation inheritance Inheritance semantics Virtual Inheritance object oriented programming Code SmellReferences Edit Taenzer David Ganti Murthy Podar Sunil 1989 Problems in Object Oriented Software Reuse PDF ECOOP 89 Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Object Oriented Programming 1989 Cambridge University Press pp 33 34 Retrieved 22 March 2013 Code Smell 11 Subclassification for Code Reuse hashnode Retrieved 18 January 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yo yo problem amp oldid 1058751908, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
