Tree views - Best design practices

[Filip Gruszczyński]

> Yes. There is a difference between the interface of an object (namely,
> what methods and attributes it has and what their semantic meaning is)
> and the class of an object (what methods and attributes it has and how
> they are implemented.)
>
> In general, you shouldn't be asking about an object's class. Down the
> road, you may want to use an object that isn't of the same class but
> does support the interface.
>
> Consider how the file object is used in Python. Pretty much every
> place you can use a file object you can use a StringIO, right? That's
> because StringIO supports the file interface while it isn't a file.
>
> You may want to read up on 'duck typing' to get a better sense of why
> this is important.

I have read also your next message and these are good arguments for
dynamically typed languages and really convinces me - I mean that they
provide some flexibility at the cost of writing a little more. They
provide flexibility though in a different field. Duck typing is great,
because it allows completely use of a completely different hierarchy,
which only has to have the same interface.

But I am looking for a different type of flexibility. I would like to
be able to add more classes to my hierarchy and not have to change my
code in many places when I add new class to the hierarchy. If I have
to change every class in the hierarchy because I add new class, then
it's not something I would like to do. And idea how I can avoid this?

-- 
Filip Gruszczyński