To have or to be? Possessing data versus being in a State - Two different intuitive concepts used in informatics

Abstract

In computer programming it is sometimes helpful to start with the definition of a state transition diagram (finite state automaton), which describes on a rather abstract level but in an intuitive way how the system is supposed to react to events in certain situations. The reaction is dependent on the internal state of the running program. The concept of being in a state differs fundamentally from the concept of data storage or data possession usually associated to variables or object attributes. Thus there are certain cognitive difficulties to overcome, when creating a program on the basis of a state transition diagram. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.