A Software Tool for Maintaining File and Macro Build
Dependencies
This paper is concerned with the development and
reuse of intermodule interfaces, in a system requiring a
mixture of low-level and high-level implementation
languages. Such a mixture is likely when old modules are
reused.
In a two-language system, some interfaces must be expressed
in both languages. A high-level interface should be
maintained manually. The corresponding low-level interface
should be derived automatically, via a compiler-like
translator.
This paper makes several contributions:
- A problem is identified and defined.
- Several possible approaches are proposed.
- The most promising approach is selected and pursued.
- The design and implementation of a production-quality
software tool, which solves the problem for the C
programming language, is described in detail.
- Short-term industrial experiences with this tool are
briefly described.