PDL/Ada—a design language based on Ada

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.