i have to create a program for a kind of complex proces.
Well, the process is not complex, but there are a lot of variables which control the process.
I can’t in detail tell about the process, so i’ve made up one, which has the same load of IF’s:
the process is: should we stop the iron melt oven or not.
We’ve got these parameters:
if the temp goes above 800 degrees celcius, stop it
Except, when we expect cool water to be available from oven 2 in the next 20 minutes, we can continue
Except, when the temp rises 10 degrees in the next 10 minutes, we can’t wait another 10 minutes for the cold water, so we have to stop.
Except, when the temp goes down for some reason to 790-800 degrees for 5 minutes, we add an extra 5 minutes to the time we need the extra cool water.
Except, when the temp goes down for some reason to 780-790 degrees for 5 minutes, we add an extra 5 minutes to the time we need the extra cool water.
etc. etc.
You can all think of another 20 except / if / then’s
in our process we have > 50 situations, all for one goal: should the machine stop or not.
I must say i normally don’t have that many situations for one goal/issue (namely: stop the machine or not), and it is also timebound: if this is happening for 10 minutes then…., and we have to calculate the situation every minute again.
Is there a way to program this in a smart way?
(and also unit test, because we have loads and loads of combinations which are all seperate unit tests i guess?)
Some problem spaces dont fit into the OOP principle very elegantly. It sounds your situation can be managed much better in a rule based paradigm (especially when rules change).
Here is an exampe of a rule based framework for .NET: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/Drools_NETPrimer.aspx