An object oriented approach to VLSI routing

Over the last few years, object oriented programming has emerged as the new programming paradigm for the future, promising rewards in all areas of software development. Its use in commercial environments has been limited somewhat however, by the inertia of industry to adapt to a new way of thinking about software. Its main use has until recently, been in the academic environment for purposes of research. Recently, many object oriented extensions have been added to popular programming languages such as C and Pascal, making them more accessible and more prominent. As the awareness and popularity of object oriented programming increases, the variety of application area does likewise. The authors describe how the techniques of object oriented programming can be used to create reusable, extensible, modular code in the VLSI routing domain to create a generic routing framework. They focus on the design philosophy and the benefits and drawbacks of the object oriented approach