Java Beans

I’ve submitted a request to SourceForge.net
to have them host CVS stuff for the Just Intonation Calculator. They should reply within th
e next couple of days.
By Friday, it would be nice if the JiCalc would save and open it’s own files and also tab-dili
neated spreadsheet files. There’s some file IO code in it already, but it doesn’t work. Chand s
ays I should use some code form Enterprise Java Beans or something. I thought they just used a m
atter replicator to make coffee in Star Trek. I’m pretty sure that I saw Kirk make a mixed drink
that way on some episode.
Someplace, I have a book on Java Beans that I once read. I remember seeing Java Beans not as
pieces of code, but as a spiritual approach to code. Objects that could save themselves! Hallel
uija! They could load themselves too. In a way, any object that contains data could be thought
of as a bean, and since every object contains at least some kind of data, than every object is so
mehow a bean, which makes the whole idea of beans meaningless, since it’s just a way of thinking
of every object. Obviously, I didn’t get it. More importantly, I’d like to be able to deal with
files by Friday. Is file IO part of an “is a” relationship, or a “has a” relationship? Should
I add more code right to the TuningTable object, or should I have a seperate File IO class? Shou
ld I go read the OOP chapter of my programming languages book, or will some OOP programmer take p
ity on me and clue me in?
Mills offered a class on databases, but I didn’t take it, since it sounded boring. I think ma
ny of the programming questions that I’ve had in the years since would have been answered if I ha
d taken that class. Most of my questions have been about data storage and retrieval. I also zon
ed out on statistics in high school. And music theory in college. Alas. I’m going to try to so
ak up as much knowledge as possible in grad skool and let life sort out important vs unimportant
material, since my guesses about what will or will not turn out to be useful are often wrong. So
I say now, while I have zero study habits. If only, like a bean, I could come up with a way to
save myself.