Demeter: a case study of software growth through parameterized classes

Abstract

Copyright c○1988 Karl Lieberherr The Demeter T M system is a CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool designed for the development of large software projects using a new software design methodology which focuses on growing rather than building software. We describe the software development process as one of growth and evolution as opposed to building and rebuilding because most complex objects in the real world are grown and not built. Since software design is obviously a complex process this new paradigm may be helpful in unraveling some of the problems associated with current software design practices. Demeter begins by providing an ideal environment for the sprouting and nuturing of a seed (class dictionary) into a plant (large scale software project). In addition, through the combined use of object-oriented programming technology, and parameterized classes, Demeter provides a facility for the reuse of software which was developed in previous software projects. A short form of this paper was published in [LR88].