doobjet

Doobjet is a term used in software design to describe an architecture pattern that treats computational units as "doable objects" that encapsulate data and behavior and expose explicit actions. It is a niche concept with no single official specification or widely adopted standard.

The term appears in design discussions and case studies in the 2010s and later, often in academic or hobbyist contexts. Doobjet is typically presented as a bridge between object-oriented design and event-driven or workflow-oriented programming, rather than a replacement for existing patterns.

Core ideas include: a doobjet combines state and operations; it provides an action interface or registry that maps action names to handlers; orchestration of actions is managed through a central controller or event bus; and doobjects have lifecycles with creation, activation, suspension, and disposal, plus events on changes.

Applications include prototyping toolkits, lightweight workflow engines, and interactive user interfaces where user actions trigger structured sequences of state changes. Doobjects aim to improve modularity and testability by localizing side effects within action handlers.

Critics warn that lack of standardization can lead to confusion and over-engineering, and that doobjet concepts overlap with established patterns such as command, strategy, or state machines. Supporters argue it clarifies action flow in complex systems.

See also: command pattern; event-driven architecture; state machine; object-oriented design.