Abstract
The Protob methodology integrates several innovative features which have a strong impact on the software life cycle.
It can be applied to discrete event dynamic systems in general, such as real-time embedded systems, distributed systems, communication protocols and manufacturing control systems.
Protob exploits the object oriented paradigm throughout the software life cycle, including the feasibility study and the specification phase, while current specification techniques are based on functional decomposition. The internal dynamic behavior of objects is graphically defined by Prot nets, a formalism which integrates extended dataflows and Petri nets. Prot nets are executable: they enable the model dynamical analysis by means of simulation and rapid prototyping. They visually capture concurrency and synchronization in graphical if-then rules.
Operational, object oriented specifications are easy to understand and reuse. The specification model may be decomposed in components which may be studied and defined by several teams working in parallel. Problem knowledge may be formalized in models and passed on to others to form a library of building blocks.
The Protob methodology also covers the design, implementation and maintenance phases. Its formalism integrates high-level programming languages to form a model of the implementation software. The entire implementation code can be generated automatically.
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Bruno, G., Castella, A. (1994). Requirements Engineering and Design Tools for Real-Time Systems: the Protob Approach. In: Halang, W.A., Stoyenko, A.D. (eds) Real Time Computing. NATO ASI Series, vol 127. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88049-0_22
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