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I never said delegation should be redefined. In fact I'm pointing out that the GoF did the redefining. In the history of Object-oriented programming "delegatio

• btilly 14y ago
  You admit that today in common usage and implementation in various languages, "delegation" means what the GoF described it as. Language is defined by usage, so that is the current definition. You are insisting at this point that we should only use the first definition ever proposed for the word in software at this point. That would be redefining it. It would also create confusion. I do not dispute that GoF already redefined the word. That's historical fact. However what they defined it as is a concept that is better software design than the thing defined in the historical definition that you want us to go back to. Thus what they are calling delegation is not just different, but better. To reduce jargon, it is good that we try to limit how many words get special meanings in software. And it is therefore good to only give that treatment to particularly useful concepts. Which means to me that what GoF defined "delegation" to be is more deserving of having its own word than the original concept. Hopefully that clarifies why I call your attempt to go back to the original definition "redefinition", and why principles of good software design make the GoF definition more compelling.