Modularity vs. Reusability: Code Generation from Synchronous Block Diagrams

We present several methods to generate modular code from synchronous hierarchical block diagrams. Modularity means code is generated for a given macro (i.e., composite) block independently from context, that is, without knowing where this block is to be used, and also with minimal knowledge about its sub-blocks. We achieve this by generating a set of interface functions for each block and a set of dependencies between these functions that is exported along with the interface. The main trade-off is the degree of modularity (number of interface functions) vs. reusability (the set of diagrams that the block can be used in without creating dependency cycles).