APPL/A: A Language for Managing Relations Among Software Objects and Processes
Abstract
Software products and the processes that create them are characterized by use of a wide variety of relationships among software objects. We describe a research project whose goal is to enable more effective management of software relations in the context of a software process programming language. Our approach is to describe a model based on objects, relations, and processes. Our model differs from most other attempts to use relations by providing programmable semantics for relations and separating their implementation from logical specification. Programmability may be used to implement a variety of storage structures, constraints, and inferencing mechanisms. We introduce an extension of Ada, called APPU A, to enable programmers to define and manage relations within programs. The extensions to Ada include a relation library unit with separate specification and body, a tuple type, an iterator for relations and a new select alternative called the upon statement. We are defining an automatic translation of APPUA into Ada, and are applying the language to a prototype process programming system for requirements, design, and testing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA631496
Entities
People
- Dennis M. Heimbigner
- Leon J. Osterweil
- Stanley Sutton Jr.
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder