Adaptive Extensions of Object-Oriented Systems

Abstract

In order to satisfy the changing needs of customers and clients, software systems have to be adapted during their whole lifetime. One frequently occurring task is adding a new function to the interface of a (sub-) system. To implement the new functionality, not only the interface has to be extended but several other classes of the (sub-) system. Performing this task manually is tedious and error-prone. In this paper a method is described that simplifies implementing extensions of the above kind. The basic idea is using adaptive programming (AP) , so that new functionality can be described with the help of paths in the class structure and source code transformations.

Source-to-Source Transformation in the Large

“…We have also been working on the integration of techniques from Adaptive Programming (AP) [14]. In [20] we show how our approach can be extended to support introduction of new functionality along inheritance and delegations paths. Another area is the automated application of design patterns [19] [8], as well as the modular specification of design patterns as presented in [11].…”