Title :
Composition validation and subjectivity in GenVoca generators
Author :
Batory, Don ; Geraci, Bart J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA
fDate :
2/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
GenVoca generators synthesize software systems by composing components from reuse libraries. GenVoca components are designed to export and import standardized interfaces, and thus be plug-compatible, interchangeable, and interoperable with other components. We examine two different but important issues in software system synthesis. First, not all syntactically correct compositions of components are semantically correct. We present simple, efficient, and domain-independent algorithms for validating compositions of GenVoca components. Second, components that export and import immutable interfaces are too restrictive for software system synthesis. We show that the interfaces and bodies of GenVoca components are subjective, i.e., they mutate and enlarge upon instantiation. This mutability enables software systems with customized interfaces to be composed from components with “standardized” interfaces
Keywords :
application generators; computer aided software engineering; program verification; software libraries; software reusability; software tools; GenVoca generators; code synthesis; composition validation; customized interfaces; design rule checking; domain-independent algorithms; high-level specifications; mutability; reuse libraries; semantic correctness; software generators; software system synthesis; standardized interfaces; subjectivity; syntactically correct compositions; Algorithm design and analysis; Application software; Buildings; Debugging; Encoding; Logic; Programming; Software libraries; Software systems; Software tools;
Journal_Title :
Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on