LANGUAGE INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENT

OFTEN, THE STYLE AND SUBSTANCE OF A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EFFORT IS TIED TO THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE USED TO IMPLEMENT THE TARGET SYSTEM. MOREOVER, THE GROWING POPULARITY OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ROOTED IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERING SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES SUCH ADA, LISP AND SMALTALK HAS INCREASED DEVELOPER INCLINATION INCORPORATED LANGUAGE SPECIFIC CAPABILITIES EARLY IN THE DESIGN LIFECYCLE. WHILE THERE ARE OFTEN ADVANTAGED TO BE GAINED BY LANGUAGE SPECIFIC APPROACHES, MANY LANGUAGES WERE DESIGNED WITH SPECIFIC PROBLEM DOMAINSIN MIND (E.G. EMBEDDED REAL-TIME SYSTEMS ADA, SYMBOLIC PROCESSING SPEED AND EFFICIENCY). IT IS OFTEN UNWISE TO PRECLUDE THE USE A VARIETY OF LANGUAGES IN A SINGLE DEVEOPMENT LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER A LARGE AND VARIED PROBLEM DOMAIN. AN ENVIRONMENT IS PROPOSED THAT WILLPROVIDE AN OBJECT ORIENTED, GRAPHICALLY DRIVEN METHOD FOR SPECIFYING, DESIGNING, SIMULATING, AND MANAGING SOFTWARE DEVEOPMENT. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL ESTABISH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCH A ENVIRONMENT, ADDRESSING ALL PHASES OF THE SOFTWARE LIFECYCLE, AND DETERMINING THOSE AREAS WHERE LANGUAGE INDEPENDENCE WILL HAVE A KEY EFFORT ON THE METHODOLOGY.