Jean E. Sammet
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses (1) some general concepts of design languages, (2) the development of the specific design language denoted as PDL/Ada, (3) the specific features of PDL/Ada, and (4) some problems encountered and techniques used in defining PDL/Ada. An appendix shows two examples. Because of space constraints, each of these items can only be touched on briefly. This paper assumes that the reader has a basic familiarity with the Ada language (herein after referred to as Ada), but detailed knowledge is not required.
The prime technical focus of the work has been to replace an existing design language and notation which supports a specific design methodology with a design language based on Ada without impacting the methodology. There was a clearcut decision to use Ada to obtain the dual benefits of having a design language which was a subset of a programming language while still retaining just the concepts needed for a design (rather than a programming) language.
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Index Terms
- PDL/Ada—a design language based on Ada
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Reviews
James M. Moloney
This article provides a discussion of the selection and definition of PDL/Ada by the IBM Federal Systems Division as their Program Design Language (PDL). The article focuses specifically on IBM's PDL/Ada tool and does not pretend to address the general issue of Ada PDLs. It begins with a brief background on design languages and enumerates the advantages and disadvantages of using a subset of the target programming language as a PDL. This is followed by a discussion of the Ada features included in PDL/Ada. Very little justification is given for omitting Ada features other than the fact that it was desirable that there be a direct mapping from IBM's previous (non-Ada) PDL to PDL/Ada. The article provides a good introduction to the topic of using Ada as a PDL. As the authors state, the paper assumes that the reader has a basic familiarity with the Ada language. The paper was written at a time when little or no material was publicly available on the topic of using Ada as a PDL. Since that time, a great deal of work has been done in this area. The interested reader is referred to the Design Methodology Subcommittee reports in each issue of Ada Letters, the bimonthly publication of AdTEC, the SIGPLAN Technical Committee on Ada.
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