I just realised that the statement "it's still an if-then construct" illustrates a common problem among people practising OOP: conflating implementation with interface.
The OR is not an if-then construct. If anything, the if-then construct is a specialised use of OR, given than if-then-else is literally XOR.
Both are an implementation of the interface "coalesce a value with null/0/false".
I only mention this because it points to a lack of precision in our thinking which I see time after time get in the way of using OOP/OOD effectively. Maybe that's a failing of OOP, but I think that if it were, it'd be a failing of programming in general, too.
This helps explain why I teach OOP the way I do: start by following the rules of removing duplication and improving names, which encourages the programmer to ask ever-more-interesting questions about what tools are available to help follow those rules, which encourages the programmer to learn OO theory as needed, rather than having it shoved in their face all at once. This just-in-time learning leads to longer-lasting understanding for many (most?) people.
The OR is not an if-then construct. If anything, the if-then construct is a specialised use of OR, given than if-then-else is literally XOR.
Both are an implementation of the interface "coalesce a value with null/0/false".
I only mention this because it points to a lack of precision in our thinking which I see time after time get in the way of using OOP/OOD effectively. Maybe that's a failing of OOP, but I think that if it were, it'd be a failing of programming in general, too.
This helps explain why I teach OOP the way I do: start by following the rules of removing duplication and improving names, which encourages the programmer to ask ever-more-interesting questions about what tools are available to help follow those rules, which encourages the programmer to learn OO theory as needed, rather than having it shoved in their face all at once. This just-in-time learning leads to longer-lasting understanding for many (most?) people.