Config: a case study in combining software engineering techniques

Article type: Research Article

Authors: David Maley, | Ivor Spence,

Affiliations: St. Mary's University College, 191 Falls Road, Belfast BT12 6FE, Northern Ireland, UK. E-mail: d.maley@stmarys-belfast.ac.uk | Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK. E-mail: i.spence@qub.ac.uk

Abstract: Config is a software component of the Graphical R-Matrix Atomic Collision Environment. Its development is documented as a case study combining several software engineering techniques: formal specification, generic programming, object-oriented programming, and design by contract. It is specified in VDM++; and implemented in C++, a language which is becoming more than a curiosity amongst the scientific programming community. C++supports object orientation, a powerful architectural paradigm in designing the structure of software systems, and genericity, an orthogonal dimension to the inheritance hierarchies facilitated by object oriented languages. Support in C++ for design by contract can be added in library form. The combination of techniques make a substantial contribution to the overall software quality.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 59-71, 2000