The Augmentation of Object-Oriented Programming by Concepts of Abstract Data Type Theory

Abstract

Object-oriented-programming and abstract data type (ADT) theory have emerged from the same origin of computer science: the inability during the early seventies to deal efficiently with programming in-the-large. Each of the approaches has led to significant practical and theoretical results resp. Nevertheless it is still unsatisfactory that the mutual influence up to now seems to be limited to more or less syntactical issues (e.g. the provision of packages: clusters: forms). In this paper we report on the object-oriented language ModPascal that was developed as part of the Integrated Software-Development and Verification (ISDV) Project. We show how the essence of concepts of ADT theory as algebraic specifications, enrichments; parameterized specifications or signature morphisms as well as their semantics can be consistently integrated in an imperative object-oriented language. Furthermore, as the experience of using ModPascal as target language of the ISDV System has shown: we claim that without similar support of theoretical concepts techniques as formal specification of programs and algebraic verification loose their power and even applicability.