[comp.software-eng] Interfaces

render@m.cs.uiuc.edu (10/22/89)

Written 10:17 am  Oct 20, 1989 by abbott@aerospace.aero.org:
>I have started to think about system interfaces in general.  My current
>hypothesis is that the forgotten element in interfaces is the
>framework/context within which any interaction must occur.  In
>particular, I claim that (a) for any two objects to have an interface
>there must be such a framework and (b) for any interface to be described
>adequately, the framework that allows the interface to occur must be
>described.

I'm not entirely sure what you consider a framework/context.  If you
mean context in the prog. lang. sense, then there's discussion of this
stuff in PL and compiler research.  If you mean framework in the sense
of some description of the environment in which information may be passed
between entities (objects, subroutines, tools, whatever) then I haven't
seen any general theoretical research on it.  You might try looking at 
interface description languages (like IDL) since they have to support
some of what you describe.  Try the following:

    "IDL--Interface Description Language," by J.R. Nestor, W.A. Wulf and 
    D.A. Lamb.  Carnegie-Mellon University, Technical Report CMU-CS-81-139,
    August, 1981.

    "IDL: Past Experience and New Ideas," by Joseph M. Newcomer.
    In Proceedings of the IFIP International Workshop on Advanced Programming 
    Environments, Trondheim, Norway, June, 1987, pp 257--289.

hal.