[thelist] php design question

[MarsHall]

Classes and includes are unique levels of any programming language.

Includes are language constructs. Constructs instruct the interpreter
or compiler how to assemble the actual code. Other constructs include:
if-then, foreach...

Classes are relational groupings. They serve as higher-level way for a
programmer to organize their procedures. Other relational groupings
are: functions, subroutines...

Most modern programming languages I know of have include [or header]
features which work on a completely different level of the language
than the actual classes/objects do.

Quite literally, neither can take the place of the other. The include
construct just happens to have functionality that (to a programmer
without a solid CS-style background) can make it work kinda like a
class does.

Rudy wrote:
> well, maybe i'm spoiled, working in the database world, where
> things only exist once (because you declare primary keys, right?)
> and multiple times only through defined relationships

That must be because you only use Relational Databases [RDBMS] ;)

Object-Oriented Databases exist too:
	- Zope in Python ( http://www.zope.org/ )
	- Ozone in Java ( http://ozone-db.org/ )
are two OODBMS's with which I am familiar.


Rudy also wrote (in a different post):
> listen, i do apologize for always coming back to how things work in
> coldfusion, but it's the only web scripting and database language i
> know,
> and i'm hoping someone can relate this object class goodness to me
> once they know where i'm coming form

ColdFusion is objects that are pre-built to solve the most common
Web-specific programming tasks. That's why it seems so simple :)  All
programming languages are "pre-objectified" to some degree with their
intended purpose in mind.

Mars :)