Specification level interoperability

Whereas most previous approaches to interoperability have provided support at the representation level, the authors are pursuing an approach that provides support at the specification level. They have developed a model of such support that consists of four components: (1) a unified type model, which is a notation for describing the entities to be shared by interoperating programs; (2) language bindings, which connect the type models of the languages to the unified type model; (3) underlying implementations, which realize the types used by the different interoperating programs; and (4) automated assistance, which eases the task of combining components into an interoperable whole. The authors discuss the representation-level and specification-level approaches to interoperability, describe their current prototype realization of the specification-level approach and their experience with its use, and outline their plans for extending both the approach and its realization. Experiences with the initial prototype are found to be extremely encouraging