Introducere

Introduction

The Purpose of this Thesis

It was explicitly defined from the first beginning, being subordinated to the following two objectives:

the study of the main object-oriented technology features, of its applications domains, the analysis of the benefits that can be obtained using this technology, and of course of the price paid in order to obtain this benefits,

the proposal of a new frame to support the using of this new technology with maximal efficiency.

The studied domain

As it can be deduced beginning with the thesis title, "Object-Oriented Programming Technology" the subject covers a very large field. The simple scanning of the chapter names:

Key Concepts and their modeling,

Object-Oriented Languages (OOL), evolution, comparison, examples,

Formal object specification,

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methods (OOADM),

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design CASE tools

enforces the previous statement.

A deeper analysis of the thesis contain permits us to realize that among the subjects studied in the five chapters, there are strong connections. The CASE tools support one or more OOADMs. The methods use formal specification techniques. The implementation of the projects resulted by using the methods implies the need of OOL. Programming languages, Formal specification, Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methods and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design CASE tools, use, introduce and model Key Concepts.

At the time in which the thesis title was chosen, and even in the first PhD studies stage, object-oriented analysis and design methods and implicitly the first OOAD CASE tools were mostly considered service secrets being accessible only to the bigest software companies.

The obtained results

Can be divided in two categories:

Primarily we have to mention that a very large information volume was studied, synthetized, and clearly presented from our point of view. Taking into consideration that in the scientific literature it is unanimously recognized that the highest price we have to pay concerns the training process, the importance of this activity will be better understood. Many of the presented opinions, especially those referring to OOADM and OOADM CASE tools are personal points of view – not encountered in others scientific papers. The feedback received from the Computer-Science students and from other specialists in the OO field, showed me that this work was not in vain.

Secondly, we consider the original results obtained. Mainly, these refers the CASE tool designed and implemented in the "Computer Science Research Laboratory" starting with the autumn of 1994. The CASE tool metamodel architecture, the specification and the design of the semantic system checking, the extension of the OCL using domain, the code generator design, represent the main results. In the formal specification field, the m FOOPS language design, the specification (in this language) of a data-structures library (m FOOPS basic library) and of some other examples notably of the Home Heating System, the conclusion concerning the naturalness of algebraic specifications and those referring to the efficiency of the algebraic specifications translation in an OOL, are other results to whose accomplishment I brought my contribution. Also, in the fourth chapter, some inadequately modeling solution in UML 1.1 and the alternatives proposed by me, in order to find out these draw backs are presented.

The activities history and the obtained results feedback

All the activities done in this thesis context, took place at the "Babes-Bolyai" University - Computer Science Research Laboratory.

The visit made in the summer of 1991 at the Nantes University and the encounter with Bertrand MEYER, strongly influenced my professional activity later. The relationships established in 1991 were enforced especially after 1994, when in the context of a new visit in Nantes, I worked with Jean Claude ROYER and Pascal ANDRE. With the same occasion, I received from Franck BARBIER a copy of the CASE tool designed and implemented by him. This was the first CASE tool known and studied by me. So, we decided to design and implement a romanian CASE tool, later named ROCASE. The first ROCASE prototype supported OMT. This prototype success (implemented in Visual C++ 1.5.1) encouraged us. Short time after the apparition of Cook and Daniels book [Cook94], I studied (the) Syntropy method, and I decided that the new CASE tool prototype will support Syntropy. This second prototype enjoyed favorable opinions materialized in the grant obtained from the Romanian Research and Technology Ministery in order to design and implement a new CASE tool. As the Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Method unification activities was started, I decided that the CASE tool will support the Unified Method (later called UML). The ROCASE version presented at the 1998 edition of The International Informational Technology Conference and Fair obtained the award "The best romanian software". The same version, obtained at the Romanian Software Producers Exhibition and Meeting (September 1998), "The best software implemented in a Microsoft environment" award.

Apart from the feedback issued from Romania, we have received feedback from France, Canada, USA, Taiwan, England, Holland, Singapore and Iran. All this signals are favorable. Naturaly, the specialists also signaled some bugs inherents in a beta version.

Acknowledgments

I wish thank to my superviser, prof. Emil MUNTEAN. It is well known that he was a pioneer in the romanian computer science research domain, his merits being unanimously appreciated. I express my gratitude to prof. MUNTEAN for his advice, patience and encouragements expressed during my PhD period.

My gratitude towards Jean-Claude ROYER, Pascal ANDRE and Franck BARBIER - for their trust and friendship. They were the first researchers in OO field which I have met, the first who initiated me in this domain.

As I mentioned in other occasions, a software development with the ROCASE complexity and novelty, needs a team work. This is because I wish to express my thoughtful regards to all my colleagues from the Computer Science Research Laboratory which, in different periods have contributed to the development of differents ROCASE prototypes and versions. In the chronological order, they are: Dorel BOZGA, Marian SCUTURICI, Dan Mircea SUCIU, Dan VASILESCU, Alin FRENTIU, Iulian OBER, Mihai FILIMON, Catalin DARTU, Ileana STAN (OBER), Cosmin TRUTA, Marius TRUTA, Radu LUPSA, Dana COBZAS, Radu NICOARA, Oana CIURDOREAN, Sorin BOBARIU, Iuliu RUS, Emil CICOS, Adrian SMARANDOIU, Dragos COJOCARI, Bogdan MURESAN, Csaba FABIAN, Alexandru TURC, Cristian SALVAN. Specialy I wish to express my gratitude to: Dorel BOZGA, Iulian OBER, Dan SUCIU, Marian SCUTURICI and Mihai FILIMON.

I wish to thank my colleagues from the Computer Science Department and in the first place to the head of the Department, prof. Militon FRENTIU for the competitive atmosphere created in this department.

My gratitude to all my friends which, especially in the last two years told me "that the time to finish and sustain my thesis has come". My special thanks to my hole family that were patient, encouraged me and sometimes were "jealous" on "my second family" the laboratory.

Cluj-Napoca, february 1999

Dan CHIOREAN