Specification-based retrieval strategies for module reuse

Abstract

Formal specifications have been proposed as a basis for accessing reusable components from libraries, and various fine-grained specification-matching approaches have been developed to assist in searching libraries. Typically, however, the granularity of matching has been too fine for reuse to be effective. Compounding the problem is the fact that coarse-grained items usually require adaptation before reuse. The paper explains some of the problems and presents a generic solution to a key problem: adaptation of modules through parameter instantiation and subsetting. It shows how unit-matching strategies can be lifted to module level in a generic fashion.