XML-based Framework for Telecommunications Software Development

Okosnica svakog okružja za razvoj programske podrške je tekstualni izvorni kod koji predstavlja ključnu kariku u sučelju između čovjeka i računala. On je strukturiran prema pravilima apstrahiranim iz prirodnih jezika, što mu daje čitljivost i lakoću formuliranja. Povećanjem kompleksnosti softverskih projekata pojavili su se novi zahtjevi na izvorni kod: postalo je važno da on bude pogodan za automatsku obradu, točnije da čovjeku bude omogućena njena laka formalizacija. Također je postala bitna praktičnost uključivanja i obrade dodatnih podataka u izvorni kod, nepotrebnih za njegovo kompiliranje. Tim novim zahtjevima moguće je udovoljiti prelaskom na novi tekstualni oblik zapisa prema standardu XML. Glavni problem pri tom prelasku je oblikovanje nove sintakse izvornog koda, a uočeno je da u zajednici koja se bavi tim problemom nedostaje dovoljno sustavan pristup i da se pogrešno shvaća ključan pojam apstraktne sintakse. Stoga je proveden sustavan postupak identificiranja točnih zahtjeva na sintaksu i načela u njenom oblikovanju kojih se treba držati radi ispunjenja tih zahtjeva. Razvijena je sintaksa za programski jezik Java i uspoređena je s dvije postojeće sintakse. Pokazalo se da predložena sintaksa u znatno većoj mjeri ispunjava zahtjeve, a uzroci slabosti alternativnih sintaksi nađeni su u njihovom nepridržavanju utvrđenih načela oblikovanja, čime je potvrđena njihova valjanost i opravdanost.The cornerstone of every software development environment is the source code---the most important component of the machine-to-human interface. It is structured according to rules abstracted from natural languages and this feature is the key to the success of the human interface based on it. Due to the increasing complexity of the software systems, new requirements on the source code have arisen because there is an increasing need to automate its processing in various ways. Therefore it is important for it to allow the processing tasks to be easily formalized and so made ready for automatic execution. Also, it has to allow easy addition and processing of arbitrary metadata needed by the development process. The new requirements can be met by adopting a new textual format that complies with the XML standard. The main problem in the transition is the design of the new source code syntax and it was found that in the community dealing with this problem there is a lack of a sufficiently systematic approach and that the key concept of the abstract syntax is being misinterpreted. Therefore a systematic process was conducted which identified the exact requirements on the syntax and the principles that need to be followed in its design to meet those requirements. A syntax for the Java programming language was developed and compared to two existing syntaxes. It was shown that the proposed syntax meets the requirements to a significantly higher proportion. The source of the deficiencies of the alternative syntaxes was identified as lying in their divergence from the mentioned design principles, which confirms their validity