| New Directions in Programming Environments: Extensible Software (2007) | |||||||||||||
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| If we want software that can be adapted to our needs on the long run, extensibility is a main requirement. For a long time, extensibility has been in conflict with stability and/or efficiency. This situation has changed with recent software technologies. The tools provided by software technology however must be complemented by a design which exploits their facilities for extensibility. We illustrate this using Voyager, a portable data analysis system based on Oberon. Introduction Extensibility is a critical requirement if we want software that can be adapted to our needs on the long run. The extensions required may be simple adaptations (like customisation of the user interface) or complex (like the integration of a new statistical method). Software technology can provide prerequisites for extensibility. The main contribution however has to come from system design, and the critical step is to separate abstract concepts and principles from implementation. In the extremes, there are si... | |||||||||||||
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