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Exactness and Clarity in a Component-Based Specification Language

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Object-Oriented Behavioral Specifications

Part of the book series: The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science ((SECS,volume 371))

Abstract

We are investigating software architectures in general and component-based software development in specific. Our goal is to be able to specify architecture so that large-grain reuse can take place in a plug-and-play manner. To facilitate our investigation we have developed a new specification language that is an extension of CORBA’s interface definition language. Our extensions include specification of the behavior of interfaces.

This paper addresses the problem of designing and implementing a specification language that is formal enough to express exact specifications, yet clear enough to be used by real designers who are not mathematicians. It is our thesis that underlying, mathematical formalisms must be used to achieve exactness, and that given exactness, clarity can be achieved by building tools that hide much of the formalism from users. This paper presents three tools we are developing to hide a formal specification method from the average user.

This work is supported in part by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s ATP project on component-based software.

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  1. Center for Strategic Technology Research, Andersen Consulting 3773 Willow Road, Northbrook, IL, 60062, USA

    Doug Bryan

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Bryan, D. (1996). Exactness and Clarity in a Component-Based Specification Language. In: Object-Oriented Behavioral Specifications. The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, vol 371. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-27524-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-27524-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-9778-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-585-27524-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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