INTEROPERATION OF OBJECT-ORIENTED METHODOLOGIES

OBJECT-ORIENTED HAVE RECENTYLY EXPLODED INTO THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING ARENA, AND SHOW GREAT POTENTIAL IN REDUCING SOFTWARE COSTS BY INCREASING PROGRAMMER PRODUCTIVITY, ENHANCING SOFTWARE QUALITY, AND PROMOTING REUSABLE SOFTWARE. EACH OF THESE METHODOLOGIES OFFERS DIFFERENT FEATURES AND DOMAINS OF APPLICABILITY. INTEROPERATION OF THESE METHODOLOGIES LOOMS AS A CRITICAL TECHNICAL PROBLEM AS MORE ORGANIZATIONS SWITCH TO THIS PROMISING TECHNOLOGY AND ENCOUNTER PROBLEMS OF MIXING VARIOUS PARADIGMS WITHIN AND ACROSS ENTERPRISES. WE PROPOSE TO STUDY AND EVALUATE EXISTING TECHNICAL APPROACHES TO THIS PROBLEM, AND THE GENERAL MECHANISMS AVAILABLE FOR ENVIRONMENT INTEGRATION AND PROCESS INTEROPEABILITY. THE EVALUATION WILL HELP VALIDATE THE DESIGN OF A CASE FRAMEWORK THAT WILL FEATURE BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL INTEGRATION. WE AIM TO USE THIS FRAMEWORK IN THE DESIGN OF A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT THAT WILL FOSTER INTEROPERATION OF OBJECT-ORIENTED METHODOLOGIES BY SEMANTIC INTEGRATION OF TOOLS THAT SUPPORT INDIVIDUAL METHODOLOGIES. IN ADDITION TO INTERNAL INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES WITHIN OUR ENVIRONMENT, WE WILL DEVISE OBJECT-ORIENTED EXTENSIONS TO THE EXISTING CASE DATA INTERCHANGE FORMAT (CDIF) AND PRESENT OUR INTERFACES TO THE CDIF STANDARDS COMMITTEE TO FOSTER EXTERNAL USE.