ix Introduction The purpose of this book is to introduce object-oriented technology to the broadest possible audi- ence. The worldwide movement to object technology is proceeding at an ever-increasing pace, yet I still find that a genuine understanding of objects is the exception rather than the rule. This is unfortunate because the full benefits of objects cannot be realized if the key principles are not un- derstood. These principles are simple, natural, and easily grasped. However, they are often masked by a seemingly impenetrable veil of jargon. This book is designed to strip away that veil by explaining objects in simple English and with graphic illustrations. The concern of the book is on using objects in business settings, and the focus throughout is on translating the advantages of objects into business benefits. These benefits include improving the efficiency of software development, but they go far beyond that goal. The true motivation of this book is to demonstrate how the use of object technology can help your company become an adap- tive organization, able to respond rapidly to changing business conditions and outmaneuver your competition in the marketplace. As the book's title suggests, the target audience is managers, not technologists. The level of man- ager can range all the way from project managers up through CIOs and CEOs. The common de- nominator that makes you a candidate for reading this book is that you want information systems that make your company more competitive. The emphasis throughout is on giving you just enough insight into objects that you can make informed decisions about this technology, without dragging you through the details of implementation. Having declared the primary audience for the book, I should also point out that it has proven to be a good introduction for practitioners as well. One of the impediments to the effective use of object technology is that developers are often trained on object-oriented tools without first being given a proper framework for understanding what they will be doing with these tools. More than one reader of the first edition has told me that everyone seeking to become an object-oriented developer should read this book before plunging into the technology. I take that as high praise indeed, and I pass it on in case you are a technologist wondering whether this book would be of value to you. You don't need a technical background in order to read and learn from this book. I assume that you are generally familiar with computers and how they are used in business, but I don't assume any knowledge of software development or data management technology. If you have a good grasp of these areas, you should dive right into Chapter 1. If you don't, you should start out with the software construction primer in the appendix. Even if you are already familiar with these topics, I encourage you to quickly scan this primer just to make sure that you understand what I have in mind when I contrast the object approach with conventional software construction. How to Read the Book I assume you are busy, so I've tried to make it easy for you to consume this book quickly. I've kept it brief; the margins contain a "fast track" summary of every paragraph; and there are illustrations to convey key concepts in graphical form. If you want rapid access to the core ideas, just read the fast track, look over the illustrations, and dip into the text only when you want more information. The fast track and graphics make it easy to return later to pick up additional information as you need it.