to Introduction Generative Programming
Michal Antkiewicz [e-mail]
Overview
What is Generative Programming? GP Process Technology Projections Object Technology Component Technology Feature Modeling Exercise Specialization MDA
What is Generative Programming?
"... is a software engineering paradigm based on modeling software system families such that, given a particular requirements specification, a highly customized and optimized intermediate or end-product can be automatically manufactured on demand from elementary, reusable implementation components by means of configuration knowledge" [Cza02]
Generative Programming Process
Two parallel processes:
development for reuse development with reuse
Introducing GP is not always profitable
Development For Reuse
Create generative domain model (means of specification of members, implementation components and configuration knowledge) Capture the scope of system family Capture commonalities and variation points feature modeling Design and implement a system family model
Choose common architecture, Provide means of specifying family members, Capture configuration knowledge in a generator, Implement a model using generative technologies.
Technology Projections
This is a recursive process. One's solution space may be someone's else problem space.
Object Technology
Why it does not suffice?
classes are too small units of reuse, frameworks are sufficiently large units of reuse, but frameworks from different vendors do not integrate well, design patterns are pieces of reusable knowledge, but they do not exist as executable code.
GP supports better software and knowledge reuse.
Component Technology
Ongoing development improves component interoperability Reusing small components does not have a large impact on software development, and large components require high customization efforts, Problem with fat components, In GP, rather having than to search for needed components by name, they are generated to support required features.
Feature Modeling
Part of the Development for Reuse process, The goal is to find commonalities and variation points in system family, Feature diagrams are the basis for deriving the categories of implementation components, Choosing a concrete member of system family is called specialization and provides input for generator.
Feature Modeling: Mandatory Feature
Feature Modeling: Optional Feature
Feature Modeling: Exclusive-Or
Feature Modeling: Inclusive-Or
Feature Modeling: Open Feature
Exercise: Family of Counters
Detailed requirements:
support a fixed and variable increment, the value of fixed increment can be 'statically' specified, support different counter value types (short, int, long), assume, that more value types can be added, may optionally support manual or automatic reset (or both); automatic reset is activated, when the counter value exceeds a reset limit, the reset limit can be 'statically' specified.
Draw feature diagram for family of counters and count the number of valid family members.
Counter Family Feature Diagram...