Title :
An abstract data-type technique for scientific software
Author :
O´Neill, T.J. ; Delves, L.M.
Author_Institution :
University of Liverpool, Department of Mathematics, Statistics & Computing Science, Liverpool, UK
fDate :
5/1/1987 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Numerical computation forms a substantial part of the total of world computing, and, as a result, large amounts of money are spent on the production, modification and maintenance of scientific software. A methodology based on an abstract data-type technique for algorithmic design has the potential to reduce numerical software development costs. This paper describes the abstract data-type development of GEM2, a package for solving two-dimensional single/coupled real/complex elliptic partial differential equations using the global-element method. We show that the abstract design of the GEM2 package, together with the use of an extensible implementation language (Algol 68), yields a family of packages able to handle a variety of problems but based on a single source code. Development and maintenance costs are reduced by this approach; we show that, at least in this case, run time efficiency is unimpaired.
Keywords :
data structures; finite element analysis; mathematics computing; partial differential equations; software engineering; Algol 68; GEM2; abstract data-type; global-element method; implementation language; maintenance; maintenance costs; modification; numerical software development costs; production; run time efficiency; scientific software; two-dimensional single/coupled real/complex elliptic partial differential equations;
Journal_Title :
Software Engineering Journal
DOI :
10.1049/sej.1987.0011