An Estelle compiler

The increasing development and use of computer networks has necessitated international standards to be defined. Central to the standardization efforts is the concept of a Formal Description Technique (FDT) which is used to provide a definition medium for communication protocols and services. This document describes the design and implementation of one of the few existing compilers for the one such FDT, the language "Estelle" ([ISO85], [ISO86], [ISO87])

A study of systems implementation languages for the POCCNET system

The results are presented of a study of systems implementation languages for the Payload Operations Control Center Network (POCCNET). Criteria are developed for evaluating the languages, and fifteen existing languages are evaluated on the basis of these criteria

Las asignaturas de procesadores de lenguajes en la Universidad de La Laguna

En este trabajo se presenta una propuesta para la enseñanza de las asignaturas de compiladores en el Centro Superior de Informática de la Universidad de La Laguna. En dicho centro se imparten en el segundo ciclo de la Ingeniería en Informática las asignaturas Procesadores de Lenguaje I y Procesadores de Lenguaje II de las cuales se aporta el contenido de sus programas de teoría y el conjunto de prácticas de laboratorio

Modules program structures and the structuring of operating systems

In this paper some views are presented on the way in which complex systems, such as Operating Systems and the programs to be interfaced with them can be constructed, and how such systems may become heavily library oriented. Although such systems have a dynamic nature, all interfacing within and among modules can be checked statically. It will be shown that the concepts presented are equally valid for single user systems, multi-programming systems and even distributed systems. The ideas have been spurred by the implementation of a modular version of Pascal and a supporting Operating System, currently nearing completion at Twente University of Technology, The Netherlands

Module Embedding

This paper proposes a code reuse mechanism called module embedding that enables the building of new modules from existing ones through inheritance, overriding of procedures, and overriding of types; the paper also describes an implementation scheme for this mechanism. Module embedding is beneficial when modules and classes are used in combination and need to be extended together, or when modules are more appropriate medium than classes

On the engineering of crucial software

The various aspects of the conventional software development cycle are examined. This cycle was the basis of the augmented approach contained in the original grant proposal. This cycle was found inadequate for crucial software development, and the justification for this opinion is presented. Several possible enhancements to the conventional software cycle are discussed. Software fault tolerance, a possible enhancement of major importance, is discussed separately. Formal verification using mathematical proof is considered. Automatic programming is a radical alternative to the conventional cycle and is discussed. Recommendations for a comprehensive approach are presented, and various experiments which could be conducted in AIRLAB are described

The application of message passing to concurrent programming

The development of concurrency in computer systems will be critically reviewed and an alternative strategy proposed. This is a programming language designed along semantic principles, and it is based upon the treatment of concurrent processes as values within that language's universe of discourse. An asynchronous polymorphic message system is provided to enable co-existent processes to communicate freely. This is presented as a fundamental language construct, and it is completely general purpose, as all values, however complex, can be passed as messages. Various operations are also built into the language so as to permit processes to discover and examine one another. These permit the development of robust systems, where localised failures can be detected, and action can be taken to recover. The orthogonality of the design is discussed and its implementation in terms of an incremental compiler and abstract machine interpreter is outlined in some detail. This thesis hopes to demonstrate that message-oriented communication in a highly parallel system of processes is not only a natural form of expression, but is eminently practical, so long as the entities performing the communication are values in the languag

The development of the Edison System as a truly portable software development environment

Typescript (photocopy).Department: Computer Science