Object-Preserving Class Transformations

Abstract

Reorganization of classes for object-oriented programming and object-oriented database design has recently received considerable attention in the literature. In this paper a small set of primitive transformations is presented which forms an orthogonal basis for object-preserving class reorganizations. This set is proven to be correct, complete, and minimal. The primitive transformations help form a theoretical basis for class organization and are a powerful tool for reasoning about particular organizations. Keywords: Object-oriented programming and design, object-oriented database design, class library organization. 1 Introduction Reorganization of classes for object-oriented programming and object-oriented database design has recently received considerable attention in the literature: [BCG + 87], [LBSL90], [LBSL91], [AH87], [BMW86], [Cas89], [Cas90], [LM91], [Pir89], [PW89]. A number of researchers have suggested algorithms and hueristics to produce "good" class organizations. A ...