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* still in an early stage
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* still in an early stage
A module should not interact with too many other modules. Furthermore if a module A interacts with another module B, this interaction should be loose, which means that A should not make too many assumptions about B.
If a module A interacts with a module B, there is a certain dependency between these modules. When for example A uses a certain functionality of B, then A depends on B. A makes the assumption that B provides a certain service, and moreover it makes assumptions on how this service can be used (by which mechanism, which parameters, etc.). If one of these assumptions is not true anymore because B has changed for some reason, A also has to change. So the fewer dependencies there are, the less likely it is that A stops working and has to be changed.
Furthermore A makes many and detailed assumptions about B, there is also a high probability that A has to change despite only relying one one other module. This is because in such a case A also needs to change when only a certain detail of B changes.
But if coupling is low, there are only few assumptions between the modules which can be violated. This reduces the chance of ripple effects.
Coupling can be reduced by several technical measures (see strategies). But while these measures reduce the coupling technically, they do not necessarily reduce the logical coupling. In such a case two modules A and B may seem decoupled, but ripple effects may occur anyway because of the logical coupling. In such a case it is better to make the coupling explicit by not applying a decoupling strategy. It may also be possible to find a better suitable strategy or a better way of applying the strategy to also get rid of the logical coupling.
Furthermore note that coupling to a stable module is often no problem. The problematic cases are couplings to unstable modules. This means that applying decoupling strategies is beneficial when a coupling to an unstable module is reduced. But it may not be beneficial in the other cases.
See also section contrary principles.
GRASP | ||||||
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Principles | Information Expert | High Cohesion | Low Coupling | |||
Non-Principles | Controller | Creator | Indirection | Polymorphism | Protected Variation | Pure Fabrication |