I've been feeling lately that software engineering, especially OOP, is just too complex. And OO has not lived up to its hype. Sure there is some reusability (via frameworks, libraries, ...) but the cost! Perhaps, its just the level of OO sophistication. There are indications that some "new" stuff is trying to make it into common use, for example, AOP, Rule Systems, MDA, and so forth. Here is a site that presents such an approach. Home of Quantum Programming: "quantum programming (qp) is a programming paradigm that extends traditional object-oriented programming (OOP) with two additional fundamental concepts: hierarchical state machines (statecharts) and active object-based computing. These two concepts beautifully complement encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism —the famous tripartite mantra of OOP—and are just as fundamental. Many programmers mistakenly think that statecharts mandate the use of sophisticated design automation tools. However, although tools can help generate code from statechart diagrams, they are not essential to take full advantage of the most fundamental statechart features (such as state hierarchy). Indeed, it is relatively straightforward (once you know the pattern) to code statecharts directly in C or C++ and to organize them into fully functional applications founded on an active object-based application framework.