AdaPIC Toolse: Supporting Interface

DESPITE THE IMPORTANCE OF DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG A SOFTWARE SYSTEM''S COMPONENTS, MOST LANGUAGES AND DEVELOPMENT ENVIR- ONMENTS DO NOT PROVIDE SUITABLE SUPPORT FOR THESE ACTIVITIES. WHILE ADA AND THE VARIOUS EXISTING ADA ENVIRONMENTS OFFER SOME ASSISTANCE, THE CAPA- BILITIES THEY OFFER ARE INADEQUATE FOR USE IN TRULY LARGE AND COMPLEX SOFT- WARE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. TO ADDRESS THESE SHORTCOMINGS, WE ARE DEVELOP- ING THE ADAPIC TOOLSET, WHICH WE ENVISION AS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF AN ADA SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT. THE ADAPIC TOOLSET IS ONE PARTICULAR INSTANTIATION, SPECIFICALLY ADAPTED FOR USE WITH ADA, OF THE MORE GENERAL COLLECTION OF LANGUAGE FEATURES AND ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES THAT CONSTITUTE THE PIC APPROACH TO DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SOFTWARE SYSTEM COMPONENTS. THIS TOOLSET IS BEING TAILORED TO SUPPORT AN INCREMENT- AL APPROACH TO THE INTERFACE CONTROL ASPECTS OF THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. FOLLOWING A DISCUSSION OF THE INTERFACE CONTROL AND INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS, THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE ADAPIC TOOLSET, CONCENTRAT- ING ON ITS ANALYSIS TOOLS AND SUPPORT FOR INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND DEMON STRATING HOW IT CONTRIBUTES TO THE TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING LARGE ADA SOFT WARE SYSTEMS.