Integrating Method Objects into the Object-Oriented Life Cycle Approach

Abstract:
As each stage of a software life cycle is executed, one or more methods are utilised. Such methods, for instance specification languages or graphic modelling tools, have usually been developed to cover only a part of the development process. Multiple methods are therefore needed to cover the whole software life cycle. But, normally, independently developed methods cannot be integrated perfectly. Inconsistencies and redundancies between individual methods exist that hinder the seamless transition between the stages of the life cycle. By re-engineering the methods used or by engineering new methods, these problems may be solved. Such method integration requires understanding of the structure of a method. P. Loehr has shown that each development method may be seen as a structured collection of basic development steps. To further enhance clarity, an object-oriented life cycle model may now be built where we introduce such a structure as a method object and model its behaviour and its interaction with other objects.