Parameterized Programming

Parameterized programming is a powerful technique for the reliable reuse of software. In this technique, modules are parameterized over very general interfaces that describe what properties of an environment are required for the module to work correctly. Reusability is enhanced by the flexibility of the parameterization mechanism proposed here. Reliability is further enhanced by permitting interface requirements to include more than purely syntactic information. This paper introduces three new ideas that seem especially useful in supporting parameterized programming: 1) theories, which declare global properties of program modules and interfaces; 2) views, which connect theories with program modules in an elegant way; and 3) module expressions, a kind of general structured program transformation which produces new modules by modifying and combining existing modules. Although these ideas are illustrated with some simple examples in the OBJ programming language, they should also be taken as proposals for an Ada¹ library system, for adding modules to Prolog, and as considerations for future language design efforts. OBJ is an ultra-high level programming language, based upon rewrite rules, that incorporates these ideas, and many others from modern programming methodology.