Language Support for Exploiting Software Structure Specifications

Abstract

Precise specification of the architecture and design of software is a good practice. Such specifications contain a lot of information about the software that can potentially be exploited by tools to reduce redundancy in software writing by automating routine tasks, as well as providing valuable feedback on the software. We first broadly classify such tools based on their application and examine some of the issues involved in writing them. Most of these tools are built using conventional programming languages that do not provide primitives routinely required by such tools. We identify some patterns commonly seen while writing such tools and abstract them into a language specially designed for this purpose. Our effort is a language called LEADS, where we attempt to make writing such tools easier, more modular, organized, and portable. LEADS is based on the Pattern-Action approach, where one specifies the pattern of information of interest and the actions to be taken when it is found. The patterns are specified using a custom declarative language enriched with special primitives for routinely occurring constructs. LEADS also decouples itself from specific specification environments and formats, thereby ensuring wide applicability. This enables LEADS scripts to be ported across design environments with minimal effort.