Integration of Independently Developed Components through Aliased Multi-Object Type Widening

Abstract

The aim of component-based software development is to assemble applications from existing components, writing as little extra code as possible. For programmers, the assembling of applications from existing components should increase reuse, thus allowing them to concentrate on value-added tasks and to produce high-quality software within a shorter time. For users, component-based software development promises tailor made functionality from the customization of ready-made components, and that at a lower cost than applications developed from scratch. However, this ideal scenario has yet to become reality! Today, the majority of all applications are still developed from scratch, and there are still relatively few ready-made components that can be easily reused in the construction of new applications. In this paper, we argue that the present situation is primary caused by the conventional object-oriented programming languages in which we try to assemble components. When Assembling independently developed components in a conventional object-oriented programming language, it leads to a number of complex integration problems. We describe these problems in turn before we discuss how the new language features of Lasagne/J, an extension of the Java programming language, can be used to tackle them.

Cite as:

Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen, “Integration of Independently Developed Components through Aliased Multi-Object Type Widening”, Journal of Object Technology, Volume 3, no. 11 (December 2004), pp. 55-76, doi:10.5381/jot.2004.3.11.a3.