Beyond Objects: A Software Design Paradigm Based on Process Control.

Abstract

A standard demonstration problem in object-oriented programming is the design of an automobile cruise control. This design exercise demonstrates object-oriented techniques well, but it does not ask whether the object-oriented paradigm is the best one for the task Here we examine the alternative view that cruise control is essentially a control problem. We present a new software organization paradigm motivated by process control loops. The control view leads us to an architecture that is dominated by analysis of a classical feedback loop rather than by the identification of discrete stateful components to treat as objects. The change in architectural model calls attention to important questions about the cruise control task that aren't addressed in an object-oriented design.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA288531

Entities

People

  • Mary Shaw

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Closed Loop Systems
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Control Systems Engineering
  • Engineering
  • Feedback
  • Language
  • Materials
  • Open Loop Systems
  • Operating Systems
  • Programming Languages
  • Software Design
  • Software Development
  • Thermostats

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking
  • Educational Psychology
  • Robotics and Automation.