HP Labs Technical Reports

Criteria for Comparing Object-Oriented Development Methods

Arnold, Patrick; Bodoff, Stephanie; Coleman, Derek; Gilchrist, Helena; Hayes, Fiona

HPL-91-51

Keyword(s):

Abstract: Recently there has been a profusion of object-oriented analysis and design methods coming from a variety of backgrounds. The aim of this paper is to aid the objective comparison of methods. A set of criteria for making explicit the differences and similarities between methods is proposed. The criteria are presented as a set of questions together with some preceding commentary. There are four main categories of criteria: Concepts, Models, Process and Pragmatics. Concepts deals with what makes a development method object-oriented. The criteria for models consider what abstract system descriptions a method requires and the notations it proposes to capture those descriptions. The process criteria focus on mechanisms for developing the models. The pragmatic criteria concentrate on non-technical features. This paper should be of interest to potentail users of object-oriented methods as well as to the developers and advocates of these methods.

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