Recasting algorithms to encourage reuse

Abstract

Instead of viewing algorithms as single large operations, the authors use a machine-oriented view to show how they can be viewed as collections of smaller objects and operations. Their approach promises more flexibility especially in making performance trade-offs, and encourages black-box reuse. They recommend black-box reuse because the real value of reused code lies in its properties, such as correctness with respect to an abstract specification. If you make even small structural or environmental changes, the confidence in these properties tends to evaporate, and with it most of the component's value. They show how to design an entire category of more flexible black-box reusable software components by applying a general design technique that recasts algorithms as objects. To illustrate the technique, they recast a sorting algorithm and a spanning-forest algorithm into objects.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>