A model of visibility control

Author

Wolf, Alexander L. ; Clarke, Lori A. ; Wileden, Jack C.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. & Inf. Sci., Massachusetts Univ., Amherst, MA, USA

Volume

14

Issue

4

fYear

1988

fDate

4/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

512

Lastpage

520

Abstract

A formal model for describing and evaluating visibility control mechanisms is introduced. The model reflects a general view of visibility in which the concepts of requisition of access and provision of access are distinguished. This model provides a means for characterizing and reasoning about the various properties of visibility control mechanisms. Specifically, the notion of preciseness is defined. The utility of the model is illustrated by using it to evaluate and compare the relative strengths and weaknesses, with respect to preciseness, of the visibility control mechanisms found in Algol 60, Ada, Gypsy, and an approach called PIC, which specifically addresses the concerns of visibility control in large software systems.

Keywords

ALGOL; Ada; directed graphs; high level languages; programming theory; Ada; Algol 60; Gypsy; PIC; directed graphs; programming theory; provision of access; requisition of access; visibility control; Application software; Computer languages; Computer science; Control systems; Information science; Laboratories; Mechanical factors; Programming; Software systems; Trademarks;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0098-5589

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/32.4673

Filename

4673