Ada Life Cycle Design Methodology

Abstract

Ada was designed to facilitate the use of modern software engineering techniques. Issues like modularity, top-down design, data abstraction, information hiding, fault-tolerant programming, division of labor, and rigorous definition of interfaces played a central role in the definition of the language. The novel features of Ada, in turn, are changing the way we look at software engineering. Much of the traditional wisdom about the software life cycle must be reevaluated in light of Ada. This chapter describes the characteristics of a complete life cycle design methodology promoting effective and efficient use of Ada. Our intent is not to propose a drastically new methodology optimized for Ada, but rather to analyze the impact of Ada on a fairly classical view of the software life cycle.